The San Jose Earthquakes vs the Los Angeles Galaxy at McAfee Coliseum, Oakland CA, August 3, 2008. Photo courtesy of Bill Ward.

 At least that's what a growing cadre of soccer supporters are hoping as The Town makes a serious bid to host the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup.  

Officials recently got the word that Oakland had advanced to the next round of US cities to be considered for the honor of hosting the world's largest Soccer competition.  

And while the idea of bringing a world class soccer match to the Raider Nation might seem a bit odd, it's actually not that strange at all. This summer The Coliseum hosted a double header match as part of the prestigious Gold Cup that drew over 30,000 fans. Stanford has hosted the Word cup twice (1994 and 1999) and the San Jose Earthquakes, just a hop skip and  jump down the way, are past winners of the Major League Soccer cup for 2001 and 2003.  

But we're up against some stiff competition, butting heads up against locals including Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Washington DC and Los Angeles. 

To advance to the next round 50,000 East Bay residents must sign a petition showing their support of the games. Sign the petition below, add it to your site, tell your social network and check out the site to find out more.

About Kwan Booth

Kwan Booth is the Senior Producer of Oakland Local. When he's not Senioring, producering, or otherwise tinkering around with the site he's usually in West Oakland, writing poems and drinking coffee.