Following a 30,000-person crowd for Thursday's Mexico-South Korea match, San Jose has significantly expanded security at San Pedro Square for today's Türkiye-Paraguay watch party, with more than 50 SJPD officers and 40–50 private guards on the ground.

Downtown San Jose's free World Cup watch party at San Pedro Square Market returns tonight for Türkiye vs. Paraguay — and after Thursday's crowd hit 30,000, organizers have noticeably upgraded the security setup.

The San Jose Sports Authority deployed more than 50 San Jose Police officers and an additional 40 to 50 private security personnel throughout the downtown footprint, focused on crowd control and traffic management. "It's focusing on the public safety and how do we create a fun family environment at the same time," SJSA executive director John Poch told NBC Bay Area. Organizers are projecting up to 25,000 people through the area today — slightly below Thursday's actual turnout, which itself exceeded expectations.

The party is at San Pedro Square Market (87 N San Pedro St), free to attend, part of the ongoing Soccer Celebration series running all 104 World Cup matches through July 19. The match kickoff time was not confirmed in published reports as of this writing — check soccercelebration.com or the San Pedro Square Market social pages before you head out.

The insider tip: Poch's explicit advice is "come here for the atmosphere, come here for the cultural celebration, but come early and have a Plan B." Thursday's crowd drew international visitors — a fan from Melbourne, Australia told NBC he came specifically for the atmosphere — so expect it to feel genuinely big. Light Rail's downtown San Jose stops (Convention Center or Paseo de San Antonio) are your best bet; street parking near the Square will be a mess.