San Francisco

San Francisco is the principal city of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, with a city population of roughly 875,000 and a metropolitan area of approximately 7.8 million. It occupies a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, giving it a distinctive geography and a famously variable microclimate. The city is a global centre for technology and venture capital, the base of operations for many of the world's largest technology companies, whose headquarters cluster in Silicon Valley to the south.

San Francisco has long been one of the most expensive urban property markets in the world. Its cultural influence spans the 1960s counterculture, the birth of the modern gay rights movement, and successive waves of technology innovation from personal computing through to the current AI era. The Bay Area's capacity for large outdoor and stadium events is provided primarily by Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, home of the San Francisco 49ers (NFL), which hosted Super Bowl 50 in February 2016 and has since established itself as one of the US's premier event venues.

By the Human Rights Watch self-imposed Deadline of 11 May 2026, San Francisco was among the 12 host city committees that had published no Human Rights Action Plan for the 2026 World Cup.

San Francisco is one of 16 host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with matches played at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, approximately 60 km south of the city. Levi's Stadium, the home of the San Francisco 49ers, holds around 68,500 and hosted Super Bowl 50 in 2016.

By the Human Rights Watch self-imposed Deadline of 11 May 2026, San Francisco was among the 12 host city committees that had published no Human Rights Action Plan, entering the tournament without a formal rights framework for visiting fans.