Paraguay and Turkey fans flood Santa Clara ahead of World Cup clash

Santa Clara took on the feel of a global gathering point as Paraguay and Turkey supporters packed the streets and the stadium district with flags, chants and color before the World Cup match between the two sides. Levi’s Stadium, presented for the tournament as San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, hosted the game Friday at 9:00 p.m., but the crowd energy was visible long before kickoff.

Thousands of Turkish Americans converged on Santa Clara to cheer Türkiye, joined by fans who had traveled from the Bay Area and from Australia, Europe, Asia and Canada. The turnout gave the city the look of a temporary international capital, with supporters moving through the streets around the stadium and turning the pregame hours into a public celebration as much as a sporting event.

Among the most recognizable figures in the crowd was Hamit Altintop, a former Turkish international and one of the country’s best-known football names. His presence underscored what the match meant to Turkish supporters, who saw the tournament as especially significant because Türkiye had returned to the World Cup after 24 years. That long absence helped explain why the gathering in Santa Clara carried an emotional charge well beyond one match.

The scene also reflected how deeply the tournament has been woven into the Bay Area. The region is set to host six World Cup games, and organizers have planned more than 30 free fan watch parties across the area. Bay Area officials have framed the event as a way to bring communities together and convert the region into one large celebration, while local tourism voices have said the World Cup was expected to reenergize the regional economy.

That broader economic and civic ambition was visible in Santa Clara itself. With supporters of Paraguay and Türkiye filling the city center and the stadium zone, the match became more than a sporting fixture. It showed how a World Cup in the United States can remake an American city for a night, drawing in diaspora communities, international travelers and local residents into a single shared spectacle.