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Los Angeles, USA, 2026 World Cup Travel Guide
Everything you need to know about visiting LA for the 2026 World Cup 🎬
✒️ By the worldcup-travel.com team| 📅 Updated 27 March 2026
What’s up, dudes! Our Los Angeles City Guide is here to get you everything you need to know about visiting Los Angeles for the 2026 World Cup, including transportation to and from the city, between host cities, and to and from SoFi Stadium (officially called “Los Angeles Stadium” by FIFA). We’ll guide you every step of the way in finding accommodation, car rentals, public transportation in and around the city, and much more.
Learn more about visiting Los Angeles for the World Cup
Los Angeles: The 2026 World Cup host with the world’s most expensive stadium
As the epicenter of the film and television industry, this sprawling Southern California town is no stranger to rolling out the red carpet. It is therefore fitting that Los Angeles invites 2026 World Cup fans to the most expensive stadium in the world. With its cool $5.5 billion price tag, the SoFi stadium seats 70,000 and has been lauded for its groundbreaking engineering and innovative design. It is the world’s first indoor-outdoor stadium with an 800,000 square foot retractable roof - the largest in North America - and the biggest video display in the world.
LA doesn’t do small. The city is tied with New York for the most professional sports teams - a dozen, including Major League Soccer’s (MLS) LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC, and National Women’s Soccer League’s (NWSL) Angel City FC. And, although the city last hosted the World Cup in 1994, it’s currently knee-deep in preparation for the 2028 Summer Olympics. This bodes well for fans traveling to Los Angeles for the 2026 World Cup as they are likely to benefit from improvements to the city infrastructure and transportation improvements.
One of the most important things to know about Los Angeles is that it’s home to hundreds of multi-cultural neighborhoods, across 5,000 square miles, all connected by multi-lane freeways and infamous traffic jams.
Los Angeles 2026 World Cup FAQs
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SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles Stadium) is located in Inglewood, four miles east of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) – a 15-minute drive without traffic. Read more on our Los Angeles 2026 World Cup transport page.
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MLS: LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC (LAFC).
NWSL: Angel City FC, whose owners include actresses Natalie Portman and Eva Longoria.
USL: Orange County SC plays in the USL Championship. AV Alta FC play in USL League One and are based in Lancaster, California, just north of LA. USL League Two has a Southwest division that includes seven SoCal teams. USL W League has a specific SoCal division of five teams from 2025.
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San Francisco Bay Area - 351 miles stadium-to-stadium
Seattle - 1,140 miles stadium-to-stadium
Vancouver, Canada - 1,282 miles stadium-to-stadium
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Eight World Cup games in total will be played in Los Angeles: Five group games (including team USA's first and third games), two Rounds of 32 games, and a quarter final.
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Los Angeles experiences warm summer weather during June, with average daytime temps around 75°F (24°C). In July you can expect it to be closer to 80s°F (27°C), if not warmer.
The weather in Los Angeles can vary a lot between the West, the East, the coast, the hills, and the valleys. It can also change dramatically between morning and afternoon, due to the marine layer that causes what locals call “June Gloom,” which burns off by the afternoon. In Inglewood, for the 2026 World Cup games, expect it to be warm.
There shouldn’t be much rain, if any at all, but pack a light jacket in case it cools down in the evening or you’re hanging out by the water.
Which 2026 World Cup matches will be held in LA?
Match 4 – Friday, June 12, 2026 – USMNT’s opening match vs. Paraguay
Match 15 – Monday, June 15, 2026 – Iran vs. New Zealand
Match 26 – Thursday, June 18, 2026 – Switzerland vs. UEFA Playoff A Winner
Match 39 – Sunday, June 21, 2026 – Belgium vs. Iran
Match 59 – Thursday, June 25, 2026 – USMNT vs. UEFA Playoff C Winner
Match 73 – Sunday, June 28, 2026 – Round of 32 (Knockout stage) - Group A 2nd Place vs Group B 2nd Place
Match 84 – Thursday, July 2, 2026 – Round of 32 (Knockout stage)
Match 98 – Friday, July 10, 2026 – Quarter-final (Knockout stage)
Visiting Los Angeles for the 2026 World Cup
Los Angeles is expensive and has, over the last decade, cemented its status as one of the least affordable cities in the USA. Recently, it was even ranked as one of the most expensive cities in the world. Expect prices to be high for food, entertainment, and accommodation during the 2026 World Cup in Los Angeles.
On a more cost-effective note, while LA’s public transportation has been historically less-than-effective, the city has spent the last 15 years revamping its light rail system, giving commuters more efficient means of travel. Because of the massive crowds expected for both the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics, the city intends to finally introduce a train connection between the LAX metro stop and the airport itself, which would offer faster transportation options for 2026 World Cup travelers. (It’s still a bit of a “Soon. Maybe” proposition.)
For soccer fans, bars like the Britannia Pub in Santa Monica and House of Football in Hollywood will have the fever-pitch watch-party atmosphere if you can’t make it into Los Angeles Stadium.
Doing LA like a local
No local would be caught dead on Hollywood Boulevard or the Walk of Fame, but you’re not a local, so you do you. Try to avoid StarLine bus tours that ferry you around like a stalker to houses supposedly owned by celebrities - you’ll see nothing but hedges and Hollywood gridlock anyway. What we do recommend, however, is hiking up to the Hollywood Sign, located in Griffith Park, one of USA’s largest urban parks. Start your hike at the Griffith Observatory, an ace viewpoint of the LA skyline and the site of some of your favorite movie scenes, including Rebel Without a Cause, La La Land, The Terminator, Back to the Future, and Jurassic Park.
Los Angeles is a foodie haven, but you’ll need a car and a fat wallet to try it all. Even the famous taco trucks have had to raise their prices because of the high cost of living. By way of trucks, Mariscos Jalisco is a classic with traditional high-quality Mexican-American street tacos while Koji BBQ is an awesome option for Mexican-Korean fusion.
Speaking of Korean fare, Koreatown in LA is a super fun place to visit. One of our favorite bars is Breakroom ‘86, with its secret entrance in an inconspicuous alleyway. Once inside, dance to 80s music like no one’s watching or sing your heart out in a private karaoke room.
If you’re after something a little more relaxing, we cannot recommend LA’s Korean spas enough. WiSpa, a traditional Korean spa with dozens of different rooms, pools, and treatments, is worth every penny.
