{"id":668,"date":"2025-12-04T16:56:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T16:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbculocal\/?p=668"},"modified":"2025-12-04T16:56:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T16:56:54","slug":"nbc-bay-area-premieres-countdown-to-fifa-world-cup-2026-as-northern-california-prepares-for-global-spotlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbculocal\/2025\/12\/04\/nbc-bay-area-premieres-countdown-to-fifa-world-cup-2026-as-northern-california-prepares-for-global-spotlight\/","title":{"rendered":"NBC Bay Area Premieres \u201cCountdown to FIFA World Cup 2026\u201d as Northern California Prepares for Global Spotlight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Half-Hour Special Debuts this Saturday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SAN JOSE, Calif. (December 4, 2025) \u2013 The Bay Area\u2019s march toward the world\u2019s biggest sporting tournament begins on NBC Bay Area. The station will debut&nbsp;<strong><em>Countdown to FIFA World Cup 2026<\/em><\/strong>, a half-hour special celebrating the passion, history and future of soccer in Northern California, on&nbsp;<strong>Saturday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hosted by&nbsp;<strong>NBC Bay Area\u2019s Raj Mathai<\/strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>Gia Vang<\/strong>, the program marks roughly six months until the 2026 FIFA World Cup arrives in Santa Clara, where Levi\u2019s Stadium will host multiple matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Long before the world arrives in 2026, the Bay Area helped shape the story of soccer in America.&nbsp;<em>Countdown to FIFA World Cup 2026<\/em>&nbsp;explores that influence from community fields and youth clubs to MLS stadiums and international competition, through the voices of some of the sport\u2019s most recognizable figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Featured interviews include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Landon Donovan<\/strong>, San Jose Earthquakes legend and one of the most celebrated players in U.S. soccer history<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hugo P\u00e9rez<\/strong>, 1994 U.S. World Cup midfielder who helped spark the early momentum of American soccer<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Andr\u00e9s Cantor<\/strong>, Hall of Fame broadcaster whose iconic \u201c\u00a1Gooooool!\u201d call has united fans across generations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bay FC\u2019s Founding Four: Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton and Leslie Osborne<\/strong>, four U.S. Women\u2019s National Team and Bay Area soccer leaders who discuss the rise of the women\u2019s game and the region\u2019s newest NWSL club<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The special highlights the players, pioneers and defining moments that built the Bay Area\u2019s soccer identity and the growing excitement as global competition prepares to take center stage in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs the excitement builds toward 2026, we\u2019re focused on giving fans comprehensive and engaging World Cup coverage across every platform,\u201d said Stacy Owen, President and General Manager of NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to lead the region\u2019s coverage and give fans unrivaled access to one of the biggest sporting events on the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Telemundo: The Exclusive Spanish-Language Home of the FIFA World Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NBC Bay Area\u2019s sister station, Telemundo 48, will serve as the Bay Area\u2019s exclusive Spanish-language home of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Telemundo and Peacock will broadcast all 104 matches live, along with pre- and post-match coverage, expert analysis, reporting from host cities and extensive digital content that captures the intensity and emotion of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About NBC Bay Area \/ KNTV<\/strong><br>Owned by NBCUniversal, NBC Bay Area\/KNTV is the Bay Area\u2019s investigative station located in the heart of Silicon Valley.\u00a0The mission of NBC Bay Area is to reflect the communities it serves and support its viewers through solution-based journalism that moves the community forward. The station addresses the Bay Area\u2019s most pressing issues across all platforms, featuring the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcbayarea.com\/investigations\">Investigative Unit<\/a>\u00a0<em>and\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcbayarea.com\/investigations\/consumer\/\">NBC Bay Area Responds<\/a>.\u00a0NBC Bay Area can be seen locally on Comcast 3 and 703 and over-the-air on 11 as well as streaming platforms\u00a0NBCBayArea.com, Peacock, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube, Samsung TV Plus and Xumo Play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About Telemundo 48 \/ KSTS<\/strong><br>Telemundo 48 \/ KSTS is Telemundo&#8217;s local television station serving the Spanish-speaking community throughout the Bay Area. Owned by NBCUniversal, the station is committed to providing viewers with braking news and in-depth journalism with their award-winning team of reporters, offering the most up-to-date local news, weather, sports and entertainment headlines through a variety of platforms, including online at\u00a0TelemundoAreadelaBahia.com\u00a0and via mobile and social media channels. The station can be seen locally on Comcast 18 and 718 and over-the-air on 48. TeleXitos, the station&#8217;s multicast network, offers exciting action and adventure programming in Spanish. TeleXitos can be seen locally on Comcast 194 and 1198 and over-the-air on 48.2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p># # #<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>MEDIA CONTACT\u202f<\/strong><br>Liza Catalan<br><a href=\"mailto:liza.catalan@nbcuni.com\">liza.catalan@nbcuni.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Half-Hour Special Debuts this Saturday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. SAN JOSE, Calif. (December 4, 2025) \u2013 The Bay Area\u2019s march toward the world\u2019s biggest sporting tournament begins on NBC Bay Area. The station will debut&nbsp;Countdown to FIFA World Cup 2026, a half-hour special celebrating the passion, history and future of soccer in Northern California, [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbculocal\/2025\/12\/04\/nbc-bay-area-premieres-countdown-to-fifa-world-cup-2026-as-northern-california-prepares-for-global-spotlight\/\">Read More&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> from NBC Bay Area Premieres \u201cCountdown to FIFA World Cup 2026\u201d as Northern California Prepares for Global Spotlight<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,2,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-nbc-owned-television-stations-en","category-telemundo-station-group-en"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>NBC Bay Area Premieres \u201cCountdown to FIFA World Cup 2026\u201d as Northern California Prepares for Global Spotlight - NBCU Local<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbculocal\/2025\/12\/04\/nbc-bay-area-premieres-countdown-to-fifa-world-cup-2026-as-northern-california-prepares-for-global-spotlight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NBC Bay Area Premieres \u201cCountdown to FIFA World Cup 2026\u201d as Northern California Prepares for Global Spotlight - NBCU Local\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Half-Hour Special Debuts this Saturday, Dec. 6 at 6:30 p.m. SAN JOSE, Calif. 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The station will debut&nbsp;Countdown to FIFA World Cup 2026, a half-hour special celebrating the passion, history and future of soccer in Northern California, [...]Read More... from NBC Bay Area Premieres \u201cCountdown to FIFA World Cup 2026\u201d as Northern California Prepares for Global Spotlight\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbculocal\/2025\/12\/04\/nbc-bay-area-premieres-countdown-to-fifa-world-cup-2026-as-northern-california-prepares-for-global-spotlight\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NBCU Local\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-12-04T16:56:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-04T16:56:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbculocal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2025\/12\/News-Group-Press-Release-Featured-Image-35.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1038\" 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