OAKLAND — Last fall, when a nomadic soccer club a tier below the top level of competition decided to lay down roots in a gargantuan, multipurpose venue abandoned by its previous tenants, this weekend is what its leaders had in mind.
“Oakland has been going through such a rough spot,” Lindsay Barenz, president of the Oakland Roots, said, fighting back tears. “I just think it’s so amazing to be able to show the world how awesome Oakland is and to play a part in that, I’m really proud of that.”
More than 40,000 fans will descend on the Oakland Coliseum this weekend in arguably the highest-profile sporting event the grounds have hosted since the departures of the Raiders and Athletics.
A near-capacity crowd is expected Saturday for a final tuneup for next year’s World Cup between two top teams already qualified for the tournament. Team Mexico, known as “El Tri,” will take on Team Japan in its first visit to Oakland since 2011, with the friendly set to kick off at 6:30.
The Roots, who played in five different venues since their inception in the United Soccer League in 2020, were “instrumental” in setting up the match, according to Gabriel Gabor, a media officer for the MexTour.
Not only did the Roots volunteer to move their match back a day, setting up a double-dose of soccer this weekend, it was their ownership group that footed the bill to install the soccer pitch that made the Coliseum an option in the first place.
“When the prior tenants, let’s say, departed, it left the Coliseum empty with literally no programming,” Barenz said. “But it also created an opportunity for us to make it our home. So we cooperated with the city and the county and the joint powers authority to explore how we might convert it to a baseball stadium into a soccer stadium.”
It cost just under $1 million to remove the pitcher’s mound and turn the baseball diamond into a soccer pitch, Barenz said. In doing so, it also created the opportunity for the Coliseum to host other marquee events, such as the slate of Major League Cricket matches that drew more than 25,000 fans in June.
The Roots also offered to shift their schedule to accommodate the cricket.
“If we pursue this soccer team through the lens of our purpose, which is to harness the magic of Oakland and the power of sport as a force for social good, that it will grow and it will be even bigger than our team,” Barenz said. “We want the Coliseum to be packed with events. Any night we’re not there, we want other people to be there.”
While the Roots are merely tenants of the Coliseum, they will receive a portion of the proceeds from each ticket. The club also hopes to draw new fans with booths set up outside the venue for pregame festivities that open at 2 p.m. as well as behind Section 105 inside.
They drew 26,000 fans for their home opener in March but expect a crowd about a tenth of the size of Saturday’s friendly for their match Sunday against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
The schedule change was a necessity because of the time restraints national teams have under the FIFA window, which requires clubs to release their players to compete for their respective countries. That, Gabor said, means “every team brings their best players, so you’re pretty much getting as close as you can to a preview of what a match could be next year at the World Cup.”
Team Japan was the first team to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, which is being hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada and will come to Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. As a host nation, Mexico was an automatic qualifier, but this might represent local fans’ best chance to catch El Tri.
Amid concerns over the potential presence of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, Mexico drew more than 70,000 supporters to Levi’s Stadium in July for its 1-0 win over Honduras in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals. It went on to defeat the U.S. in the championship match in Houston.
Mexico drew 48,000 on its last visit to Oakland, against Panama, and is expecting a similar number on Saturday, with Mount Davis closed off due to obstructed views.
As far as immigration enforcement, Gabor said, “We’re always in touch with federal authorities, but that’s not what our focus is. Our focus is to be ready to bring fans the best experience possible.” While there were unconfirmed reports of ICE agents in Santa Clara, the match went off without a hitch.
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The Mexicans, who are staying in downtown Oakland and training at the former Raiders facility in Alameda (now occupied by the Roots), weren’t in the city for long before they got a taste of its hard times. Thieves broke into their truck Sunday night and stole an assortment of training equipment.
The national team downplayed the incident and emphasized their enthusiasm over playing in Oakland.
Barenz, who moved to the city after leaving the NWSL’s Washington Spirit to take the job, recently bought a house in town. In her three-and-a-half years here, she’s come to love Oakland, calling it a “really, really special place” and said she is “100% committed to being in Oakland forever.”
“In my mind, Oakland is the best town in the world,” she said. “It’s just unfortunate that there have been so many events outside of our control that have led to challenges for our community. We just want to be a beacon of hope for people, and I am absolutely confident that better days are ahead. It starts by investing in stuff like this.”