U.S. National Women’s Soccer team players Andi Sullivan, Kelley O’Hara, Alana Cook, Sophia Smith and Naomi Girma attend the San Jose Earthquakes match against the Los Angeles Galaxy, Saturday, July 1, 2023, in Stanford, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)
The Bay Area is the center of the sporting universe this week as the Super Bowl is set for Sunday at Levi’s Stadium, but in two years, it will have a part to play in the Los Angeles Olympic Games, too.
LA28 organizers announced Tuesday morning that PayPal Park will host early-round soccer matches for the Olympic women’s and men’s tournaments.
The final stage matches — including gold medal matches for the men (July 28) and women (July 29) — will be played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. San Diego, Columbus, Nashville, New York and St. Louis will also host matches.
The women’s tournament is one of the premier events in women’s soccer every four years, on par with the World Cup in terms of prestige for the winners. The men’s tournament is an Under-23 event, aside from three exceptions per roster.
San Jose native Naomi Girma was a key piece of the United States’ gold medal-winning side in the 2024 Paris Games, and the central defender figures to be in the roster for 2028. Menlo Park native and former Stanford star defender Tierna Davidson also appears well positioned for the U.S. squad after starting for coach Emma Hayes in Paris, as does striker Sophia Wilson (formerly Smith) of Stanford, who had three goals and two assists over six games at the 2024 Games. Former Cardinal Catarina Macario could figure in, as well, after missing Paris with a knee injury.
The Olympics are scheduled to stretch from July 14-30, 2028. The exact match schedule for the women’s and men’s tournaments will be unveiled in April before tickets go on sale.
Major League Soccer is moving its calendar from a spring-through-fall model to a late summer-through-spring plan beginning in July 2027, so there may be fewer Earthquakes games to schedule around. The NWSL has traditionally paused its spring-through-fall season for the Olympics.
Originally published at Michael Nowels