Three-city metro pretending to be one; San Jose wins on stadium logistics, SF wins on supporter rooms — pick one and don't try to do both.
Start with Downtown SF / Mission / Hayes Valley; OR Downtown San Jose (closer to stadium); OR Oakland for budget, then decide whether the stadium side or airport side is worth the tradeoff. The current seed for San Francisco Bay Area points fans toward Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara CA, group stage and knockouts, and arrival planning before venue picks.
Choose the area before the venue
Downtown SF / Mission / Hayes Valley; OR Downtown San Jose (closer to stadium); OR Oakland for budget. Bay Area is multi-city; pick one primary base.
Base area
Downtown SF / Mission / Hayes Valley; OR Downtown San Jose (closer to stadium); OR Oakland for budget. Bay Area is multi-city; pick one primary base.
Stadium side
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara CA — 68,500
Match calendar
Group stage and knockouts
Rail spine
Caltrain SF 4th & King + Mountain View + Santa Clara (stadium-adjacent), Amtrak Oakland Jack London Sq + San Jose Diridon.
Getting in
Use the airport list for the first cut, then check local transit before booking. These entries come from docs/city-guide-handoff/host-cities.md.
SFO · SFO (San Francisco Int'l)
to Downtown SF: 14 mi, 20–55 min car ($35–$70), 35 min BART ($10). To Levi's Stadium: 33 mi, 35–75 min car, 75–110 min BART+VTA. Primary international.
OAK · OAK (Oakland Int'l)
to Downtown SF: 18 mi, 25–60 min car ($45–$80), 45 min BART ($10.95). To Levi's: 30 mi, 30–65 min car, 90 min BART+VTA. Cheaper domestic.
SJC · SJC (San Jose Mineta)
to Downtown San Jose: 4 mi, 10–25 min car ($15–$25), 15 min VTA bus. To Levi's: 4 mi, 8–20 min car, 15 min VTA light rail. **Closest to stadium.**
Train hubs
Caltrain SF 4th & King + Mountain View + Santa Clara (stadium-adjacent), Amtrak Oakland Jack London Sq + San Jose Diridon.
Bus hubs
Salesforce Transit Center SF (Greyhound, FlixBus, regional), Diridon Station San Jose.
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara CA
Stadium read
Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara CA — 68,500
Why it matters
Three-city metro pretending to be one; San Jose wins on stadium logistics, SF wins on supporter rooms — pick one and don't try to do both.
Local checks before booking
Seed source
docs/city-guide-handoff/host-cities.md
Publish status
Use this guide as a planning baseline. Match counts, venue rules, transit fares, fan festival details, and tournament weather stay in the local-check queue until verified against current sources.