Santa Cruz has big plans for the World Cup
Even if your sports loyalties lean more toward surfing and skateboarding than soccer, FIFA World Cup 2026 will soon be nearly impossible to miss in Santa Cruz.
In the coming weeks, World Cup fever will spread throughout Santa Cruz County, with watch parties, themed events and soccer activations popping up from Scotts Valley to downtown Santa Cruz and Watsonville.
Lúpulo Craft Beer House will show every tournament match live, while Woodstock’s Pizza is opening its doors at 9 a.m. for early games and broadcasting matches on every television in the restaurant, including its massive “Mondo Matrix” screen. Pono Hawaiian Grill is positioning itself as an “island-style fan zone,” complete with big-screen watch parties, food and drink specials and gatherings built around the tournament atmosphere.
Meanwhile, youth clinics and free events for all ages are taking place around the county.
Santa Cruz County Parks and Scotts Valley Parks & Recreation will host a free “Skills & Drills” soccer clinic Sat., June 13 at Anna Jean Cummings County Park, and on Sun., June 14 there’s a multi-generational “Wacky Soccer Tournament” at Skypark in Scotts Valley, complete with giant soccer balls, costumes, swim goggles and playful mini-games — with booths and activities from organizations including Monterey Bay FC, Cabrillo Soccer and local youth clubs. A pair of World Cup tickets will be raffled off at the Wacky Tournament.
And then… the big spectacle.
On Thurs., June 25 at 7:00 p.m., Main Beach will transform into a huge seaside World Cup watch party, with thousands expected to gather beneath the Giant Dipper to watch the U.S. vs. Turkey match projected on big screens beside the ocean, while kids kick soccer balls on the sand and crowds spill between the beach and the Boardwalk. Our very own “FIFA by the Sea,” it should be a distinctly Santa Cruz version of the largest sporting event on the planet.
Boardwalk Managing Director of Marketing, Sales & Hospitality Karley Pope called the event “very unique and historic,” describing the combination of Team USA, Main Beach and the iconic Boardwalk backdrop as “an incredible moment” for Santa Cruz. Pope also said the watch party is “unprecedented,” adding that organizers see it as “creating new history” for the Boardwalk.
Taken together, the range of events demonstrates that Santa Cruz County is embracing the World Cup as more than a tourism campaign or economic development opportunity. These events also reveal a side of the region that often flies under the radar even locally: a deeply rooted love of soccer that spans generations, neighborhoods, cultures and communities from Scotts Valley to Watsonville and beyond.
In case you’re new to World Cup mania, some context may be helpful. Recognized as the largest sporting event on the planet and a global party unlike anything else in sports, the tournament runs June 11 through July 19, with several matches scheduled at nearby Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.
Matches will also take place in other U.S. cities, Canada and Mexico. FIFA compares the tournament’s cumulative scale to “104 Super Bowls” unfolding over more than five weeks. The 2022 World Cup Final alone drew an estimated global audience of 1.5 billion viewers, with even larger numbers expected for 2026.
“But this is about more than soccer,” Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings said.
For Cummings, the tournament represents a rare opportunity to bring people together across cultures, generations and communities, while introducing visitors to a side of Santa Cruz County that extends beyond its stereotypical beach-surf-redwoods identity.
“Santa Cruz, yes, we’re a surf and skate town,” Cummings said. “But we also are a soccer town.”
Karley Pope of the Boardwalk agrees, noting that Santa Cruz has become a hub for beach soccer, with several U.S. Beach Soccer National Team players living locally and the annual Main Beach tournament routinely drawing hundreds of teams.
Cummings traces part of his own enthusiasm back to the 2006 World Cup, when he traveled through Europe and found himself swept up in the atmosphere surrounding the tournament.
“There were these huge watch parties in public spaces,” he said. “You’d have giant screens in the plaza and people just out there watching the games together. I’d never experienced something like it before.”
That same spirit of public gathering is now beginning to shape Santa Cruz County’s own World Cup activities — not as a single event, but as a sprawling countywide celebration.
The Main Beach watch party is just one piece within a five-day “World Soccer Celebration” unfolding at the Boardwalk during the tournament. Alongside beachside screenings and fan events on the sand, Coasters Bar & Grill will host additional watch parties as the Boardwalk builds an immersive World Cup experience overlooking Monterey Bay.
The lineup includes mariachi performances, DJ dance parties, food and drink specials, Footvolley exhibitions, beach soccer showcases and youth skills sessions designed to transform the Boardwalk into a kind of oceanside fan zone. Footvolley is a beach sport combining soccer and volleyball played without hands.
One event will feature Leah Morales — currently ranked the top female Footvolley player in the United States — competing on Main Beach in front of the Boardwalk. Another brings members of the U.S. Beach Soccer National Team to Santa Cruz for exhibition matches and youth clinics.
In Watsonville – where many expect World Cup fervor to be at its most intense — organizers will host a PlayStation 5 EA Sports FC tournament, with PlayStation 5 consoles offered as prizes for the winning teams. Watch parties, youth-centered programming and community events are also on deck in South County.
Meanwhile, the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History has transformed its iconic red ball sculpture into a giant soccer ball and will host public watch parties during the tournament, including the July 19 World Cup Final.
The scale and diversity of the events reflect what local leaders describe as a uniquely Santa Cruz interpretation of the World Cup — one that blends beaches, hospitality, recreation, youth culture, art, creativity and community gathering into something distinctly local.
For Visit Santa Cruz County CEO Terence Concannon, the larger opportunity extends beyond tourism metrics or visitor counts.
“One of the things Santa Cruz County has to export is the way we care about people — our inclusivity, how we embrace diversity and accessibility,” Concannon said. “You’re going to be seen, recognized, celebrated and welcomed here.”
Concannon said his organization views the World Cup not simply as a tourism moment, but as a way to create experiences residents themselves feel excited about participating in.
Concannon says that Visit Santa Cruz County believes its “number one customer is not the visitors. Our number one customer is the residents.” Expanding on that point, he added, “if we can make this a better place to live, it will organically become a better place to visit.”
That philosophy may help explain why Santa Cruz County’s World Cup efforts feel like both a traditional marketing campaign designed to generate awareness and economic growth and a broad, passionate celebration of soccer from beaches and parks to restaurants, bars and public gathering spaces throughout the county.
Read on: For a fan’s-eye case for why the World Cup matters—even if you’re not already a soccer convert—read Thomas Brew’s sidebar, “Don’t Sleep on This: Why Should We Care About the World Cup?”
