Rose Bowl Will Host Gold Medal Semifinals and Finals for Both Men’s and Women’s Olympic Soccer

The Rose Bowl Stadium will host the gold medal semifinals and finals for both the men’s and women’s Olympic soccer tournaments at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, LA28 announced Tuesday, making Pasadena the stage for a historic milestone: the first Olympic soccer competition where women’s teams outnumber men’s.

“The final stage matches [will be played] at the iconic Rose Bowl Stadium, including the gold medal matches on July 28, 2028 for the men’s tournament and July 29, 2028 for the women’s tournament,” LA28 said in a statement released Tuesday.

The assignment cements the Rose Bowl’s status as one of only two venues in the world—alongside the LA Memorial Coliseum—to host events at three Olympic Games (in 1932, 1984, and 2028).

Six additional U.S. cities were also announced Tuesday, which will host group stage and knockout matches: New York, Columbus, Nashville, St. Louis, San Jose, and San Diego.

LA28 said teams will progress east to west as they advance toward the final stages in Pasadena, minimizing travel demands. The detailed match schedule will be announced before the first ticket drop in April 2026.

For the first time in Olympic history, the women’s soccer tournament will feature 16 teams—four more than the men’s 12-team competition. The change, approved by the International Olympic Committee in April 2024, makes LA28 the first Olympic Games where all team sports feature at least as many women’s teams as men’s.

“Bringing Olympic Football group stage and knockout matches to stadiums across the United States means more fans will witness this global event and experience the Olympic spirit firsthand,” said Shana Ferguson, LA28’s Chief of Sport and Games Delivery, in the LA28 announcement.

The Rose Bowl last hosted Olympic soccer in 1984, when France defeated Brazil 2-0 in the gold medal match before 101,799 spectators—a record for soccer attendance in the United States that stood for three decades. In 1932, the stadium hosted track cycling on a temporary wooden velodrome.

The Rose Bowl is also the only stadium in the world to have hosted the finals of the men’s Olympic soccer tournament, the men’s FIFA World Cup (1994), and the women’s FIFA World Cup (1999).

“The Rose Bowl Stadium is America’s Stadium and one of the most iconic venues in the world,” said Jens Weiden, the Rose Bowl’s chief executive officer, in an earlier press release. “The 2028 Olympic Games will uplift the entire Southern California community, and we are honored to play a part in hosting Olympic soccer when once again, Pasadena will welcome the world to our city.”

Registration for the LA28 Olympic ticket draw is open through March 18, with the first ticket drop scheduled for April 2026. More than 1.5 million registrations were recorded on the first day when the draw opened January 14—more than the first-day totals for the Tokyo, Paris, and Milan Games combined, according to LA28.