Watching The 2026 World Cup In Los Angeles: USA's Opener, Eight Matches, And Traffic
LA hosts eight matches at SoFi including USA v Paraguay (the host nation's opener) and Türkiye v USA. The biggest Mexican-American football scene on Earth.
Los Angeles has 13 million people in the metro area, the largest Mexican-American football community in the country, a public transit system that covers perhaps 30% of where you actually need to go, and SoFi Stadium — one of the most technically advanced venues on earth. It is hosting USA's opening match. It is hosting eight fixtures in total. It is going to be spectacular and logistically difficult in roughly equal measure. That is LA. Accept the terms.
The Stadium: SoFi In Inglewood
SoFi Stadium is not in Los Angeles proper. It is in Inglewood, a city that technically sits inside the LA basin but maintains its own municipal identity. This distinction matters less than you think on match day and more than you think when you are trying to get there.
The venue itself is extraordinary. Built in 2020, covered but open-air (a translucent roof that reduces heat without trapping air), seating around 70,000, with a dual-sided scoreboard that was designed to be photographed. The NFL's Rams and Chargers share it. No one who attends a match there complains about the facility.
Eight matches: USA v Paraguay (June 12, 6pm local / 9pm ET), Iran v New Zealand (June 15), Switzerland v BiH (June 18), Belgium v Iran (June 22), Türkiye v USA (June 23, 7pm local / 10pm ET), plus a round of 32, a round of 16, and a quarter-final.
Getting There: The Transit Answer Is The Metro K Line
The Metro K Line (Crenshaw/LAX Line) opened in 2022 and connects the Expo Line and the Green Line to the Inglewood area. The Sofi Stadium/Hollywood Park station is a short walk from the venue. Connecting from downtown LA: take the Expo Line from 7th/Metro Center to Crenshaw station, switch to the K Line south to the stadium stop. Allow 45-60 minutes from central LA.
This is the correct answer. The 405 freeway on a match day hosting 70,000 people is not a viable alternative. LA's traffic reputation exists because its traffic earns it every single day. On a USA match day, it will be extraordinary