Having a Ball: Santa Barbara Celebrates the World Cup

Having a Ball:
Santa Barbara Celebrates
the World Cup

Soccer Fans Show Up in Droves to Cheer On Their Teams
in World’s Biggest Tournament

By Ryan P. Cruz | Photos by Elaine Sanders
July 9, 2026

Santa Barbara is swept up in World Cup fever. For the past few weeks, soccer fans packed into bars, restaurants, and public spaces (pretty much anywhere with a television screen and a place to stand), proudly draped in their home country’s colors and cheering on their teams in the world’s largest sporting event.

The energy of this year’s World Cup is infectious, and for good reason. The United States is serving as one of the host countries for the first time in three decades — bringing games as close as Los Angeles — and two of the participating teams are staying right here on the Central Coast, with the Austrian team setting up home base at UC Santa Barbara and the Qatar team taking up training at Westmont College in Montecito.

We’ve been covering every step of the way, with Sport Editor Victor Bryant bringing updates live from the games in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, veteran sports guru John Zant writing about the exciting opening week of World Cup action, and our own Diego Melgoza going back home to Mexico City to join the world’s biggest watch party in Zócalo.

Here in Santa Barbara, reporter/photographer Elaine Sanders and I hopped around town to get a peek into the many ways to watch the games locally, and speak to fans about what this year’s World Cup meant to them. We joined fans in steamy bars, under the setting sun at the library plaza, and in cramped corners everywhere in the city, where fans all came together for the same purpose: to have fun and watch some exciting soccer.

Party in the Plaza

The Michael Towbes Library Plaza, in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, made for one of the most enjoyable, family-friendly World Cup screenings during the first few weeks of the tournament. The events were hosted by Santa Barbara County Supervisor Roy Lee, the City of Santa Barbara, and the public library, but the initial idea for a public showing came from Wade Cowper, Lee’s chief of staff and a rabid soccer fan.

Cowper said he fell in love with soccer more than two decades ago, when he saw U.S. star Landon Donovan score his iconic goal against Mexico in 2002 to send the U.S. to its first and only quarterfinal appearance at the World Cup. (On Monday, the U.S. was eliminated in a 4-1 loss to Belgium, just short of the 2026 quarterfinal round).

Cowper was inspired by public watch parties across the world, where local officials set up large screens in public areas to allow people to watch the big games together in community. He says that the World Cup is a way to bring people together, to express their love for their country, and to share their culture.

At the library, people wore jerseys representing Brazil, France, England, Mexico, and, of course, the U.S. As the game progressed and the U.S. scored a goal against Paraguay, the crowd exploded into cheers, small children were flung into the air, and people who were strangers minutes ago high-fived and hugged each other as if they were longtime friends.

“The best part of watching the World Cup is joining with a big group of people and enjoying it together,” Cowper said. “I’ve seen other cities where they’ve had community events and people coming together, so I wanted to find a way to make this happen here in Santa Barbara.”

Hundreds of people packed into the plaza for the two public screenings hosted for the U.S. group stage matches. People brought their own chairs or sat on green turf laid out in the center of the plaza, many carrying bags of takeout food from nearby businesses (needless to say, the World Cup is good for the local economy).

The crowd celebrates a goal during a watch party at the Library Plaza. | Credit: Elaine Sanders

Out near the edge of the crowd, Supervisor Lee walked around with boxes of pizza, handing out slices to whoever wanted one, while kids ate ice cream cones and set up a makeshift cardboard soccer goal to play during halftime. It’s exactly the type of event this plaza was made for.

“What I love about events like this is you see people come together, everybody’s got their jerseys on, they’re committed to the game, and it’s just great,” Lee said. “I’m just happy they took the time to come out and use the space as it’s meant to be used.”

The Press Room

For the more hardcore fans — the kind who prefer the term “football” over “soccer” and don’t mind a bit of rowdiness — there’s no better place to watch the World Cup than the Press Room, the well-known English-style pub run by Manchester native James “Raf” Rafferty.

The small bar on Ortega Street has been the hub for every major soccer tournament since it opened in 1995, and during the World Cup, The Press Room attracts fans from across the world. This year feels even more special to Rafferty after he nearly lost the bar to a potential housing/hotel development in 2023. The bar survived the scare, and now business is booming, with one of the craziest opening weeks in World Cup history.

As one of the U.S. games comes to a close, Rafferty sits outside the bar with his son, who is helping him tend the bar and manage the overflowing crowd. Inside, the air is heavy and humid, the floor is sticky with beer, and there’s hardly room to move. Bartenders slide refilled pint glasses across the bar in quick succession while the crowd noise rises to a fever pitch in the final minutes of the game.

The U.S. picks up another group stage win, and the entire bar starts chanting in unison: “U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!” Rafferty cues up John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads” to celebrate the win — the bar always plays a song chosen for the winning country — and the whole room sings along. It’s hot and muggy, but nobody could be happier.

“This is the busiest start to the World Cup ever,” Rafferty said. “It normally doesn’t get busy ’til the later stages. It’s already packed for the opening Mexico and U.S. games — Mexico was crazy.”

Soccer fans at the Press Room | Credit: Elaine Sanders

Sí Se Puede!

While the U.S. Men’s National Team is experiencing more popularity than ever, the most passionate fanbase, even here in Santa Barbara, may still be the fans of Mexico. On game days, it’s hard to go anywhere in town without seeing the tricolores of green, white, and red — on jerseys, flying from the backs of cars, woven into braids, and even painted on faces of the more intense fans.

Mexican fans were packed elbow-to-elbow at the Santa Barbara Public Market, which has become one of the most popular spots to catch a World Cup game. | Credit: Elaine Sanders

Mexican fans took over the Santa Barbara Public Market for each match during the team’s magical run though the group stage and early knockout round. They packed the bar at Cooney’s at the Market, and spilled over into the open dining areas, where they crowded around any available screen and hung on every dramatic moment.

Around the corner on State Street, every bar and restaurant was similarly packed. The Mexican fans brought a contagious energy, with mariachi music, rattlers, and gritos to mark each highlight of each game, from the opening match to the dramatic final game when Mexico was knocked out by England in the Round of 16 on July 5. After the matches, fans took to the streets for impromptu block parties, where bands played and full-grown adults were hurled into the air in celebration.

Mexican fans were packed elbow-to-elbow at the Santa Barbara Public Market, which has become one of the most popular spots to catch a World Cup game. | Credit: Elaine Sanders

Elsewhere in the city, Mexican fans watched the game in backyards, living rooms, or taco stands in their own neighborhoods. At Tacos Pipeye on Milpas Street, regulars enjoyed a more intimate viewing experience where they could nervously watch while chomping tacos and sipping $5 beers. Others preferred to be with family and friends, watching in their homes and running out to celebrate with neighbors during big moments.

The World Cup is an opportunity for people who immigrated from other countries to wear their home colors with pride — not only Mexican fans, but those from across the world who rarely get the chance to show their love for their former homes.

These are the moments that make the World Cup special — a table of Brazilian fans making friends with Norwegian travelers, or Argentinian fans packing into Buena Onda on Haley Street to watch their beloved Lionel Messi carry them through to yet another magical World Cup run — and the tournament is still far from over. With the final three rounds still to come, there will surely be more moments to celebrate, and more chances to get out and watch a game in the community.

Check the Santa Barbara Independent sports section for game recaps, and our events page for information about where to watch the final rounds of the World Cup.