FIFA World Cup Day 2 recap: Canada plays to draw; U.S. wins its opener

Here’s where things stand in each of the groups after Day 2 of the World Cup on Friday.

It was a game eight years in the making. The first World Cup match on American soil in more than a generation and the start of a tournament that has the potential to alter the direction of soccer in this country for the next generation.

And the U.S. seized on every bit of that opportunity Friday, with Christian Pulisic setting up two goals and Folarin Balogun scoring twice in his World Cup debut, sparking an impressive 4-1 victory over Paraguay at a sold-out SoFi Stadium that was far more one-sided than the score indicated.

“This being in America, having this crowd around us, seeing the red, white, and blue, all the red-and-white striped shirts in the crowd, it’s awesome,” Pulisic said. “It’s really pushing us forward. We just hope it continues like that.”

U.S. 3, Paraguay 1 — 73rd minute

Paraguay’s Mauricio found some open space and sniped a shot past U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese to cut into the U.S. lead.

The deep kick by Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gil found his teammates just outside of the box, where they fed the ball to an open Mauricio, who sent the ball to the far side lower corner past a diving Freese.

United States 3, Paraguay 0 — 45th minute +5

In stoppage time on the final play of the first half, Folarin Balogun beat a sliding defender in full sprint before cutting back in the box and finding the top corner of the net for his second goal of the match.

The goal capped a dominant first half for the U.S., which had four shots on goal and controlled the ball for 72% of the half. The United States’ speed and aggressiveness on offense has created constant problems for the Paraguay defense.

United States 2, Paraguay 0 — 31st minute

Christian Pulisic set up another U.S. goal, using his speed to move the ball quickly to the top of the box before finding striker Folarin Balogun, who kicked it past Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gil to give the U.S. a commanding lead.

The U.S. continues to generate decent scoring chances, with their speedy midfielders and forwards causing problems for the Paraguay defense.

United States 1, Paraguay 0 — Seventh minute

Christian Pulisic broke through two defenders and fed the ball to Weston McKennie’s whose pass went off the foot of Paraguay’s Damian Bobadilla for an own goal and an early U.S. lead in the seventh minute.

Pulisic took advantage of great feed from midfield, then kicked the ball between two defenders and sprinted past them to regain control the ball before making a centering pass to McKennie. Another pass by McKennie then went off the foot of Bobadilla.

Ahead of Australia’s opening World Cup match, the Socceroos are celebrating the immigrants on the squad.

The message is simple: Soccer is for everyone. But it comes at a time when anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise in Australia and in many places around the world.

Among those featured in a video released by Professional Footballers Australia is Awer Mabil, who was born in a refugee camp in Kenya to South Sudanese parents.

“There’s a lot of journeys behind the jersey, so to be a Socceroo has many different meanings, but with one purpose, and that is to do the country proud,” Mabil said.

Mabil is one of three Socceroos who were born in refugee camps. Fellow forward Mohamed Touré was born in a camp in Guinea to Liberian parents before his family settled in Adelaide. And attacker Nestory Irankunda was born in a Tanzanian refugee camp after his parents fled Burundi. The family moved to Perth but later settled in Adelaide, where Irankunda and Touré became friends.

Both Touré, who plays for Norwich, and Irankunda, who plays for Watford, are making their World Cup debuts. Mabil plays in Spain for Castellón, and is making his second World Cup appearance.

Milos Degenek’s family left Croatia when he was a baby and they lived as refugees in Serbia before moving to Sydney.

The Socceroos’ message comes at a fraught time for immigrants around the world. A knife attack in Northern Ireland earlier this month set off two nights of fiery riots, stoked by anti-migrant rhetoric.

In the United States, President Donald Trump has implemented a widespread immigration crackdown. Visa restrictions have touched the World Cup, with Somali referee Omar Artan denied entry into the country.

There have also been a series of anti-immigrant marches and rallies under the label “March for Australia.” The events have been marked by arrests for hate speech and clashes with counter protesters.

“At a time when some seek to divide us and question who belongs, the Socceroos stand as a powerful reminder of who we truly are as a nation and as Australians,” PFA chief executive Beau Busch said. “The Socceroos highlight the profound impact of multiculturalism on our country. People who have come from all corners of the world have shaped football, our community and our sense of self in the world.”

The Socceroos have played in the last five World Cups and have advanced to the round of 16 twice, including in 2022. Australia opens Group D play on Saturday against Turkey in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Australia has been training in Oakland, California. Touré, one of 17 new players on the team, caused concern when he was absent from practice on Wednesday, but his teammates reported he was back on Thursday.

Peterson writes for the Associated Press.

I giddily jumped up and down and high-fived strangers at a pub as Mexican forward Julián Quiñones scored a goal in the ninth minute of the World Cup’s opening match. I sat with bated breath during Mexico’s free kicks. I once again felt the rush of community and adrenaline when Raúl Jiménez added on another goal for Mexico in the 67th minute.

Here we are again. Every four years I swear I’m not going to get invested in the World Cup hubbub and yet here I am — all in, 10 toes down in my ardent love for the beautiful game’s world stage.

Delusions fill my brain. World Cup fantasies override my everyday duties. Intrusive thoughts come to mind like, “Maybe it’s better if my beloved and woefully doomed Mexico national team gets the second seed in their group?”

TORONTO — Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey will not play in his team’s World Cup opener Wednesday after Canada denied his visa application while he awaits trial in London on multiple charges of rape.

FIFA said Friday in a statement that the 32-year-old Partey won’t be able to travel from his team’s base camp in Smithfield, Rhode Island, for Ghana’s opening match with Panama in Toronto.

“His visa application has been refused by the Canadian government,” the governing body of world soccer said. “FIFA is not involved in the immigration processes of host countries, including the adjudication of visas. As with previous FIFA events, the host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and is admitted into the country.”

The Ghana soccer association did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a statement that every person wanting to come to Canada is assessed individually “based on the facts available and the law that applies.”

“Canada is proud to be a host country for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and is working to facilitate a successful event while maintaining the safety and security of Canadians,” the IRCC said in the statement. “Canada has been consistent that hosting major events does not change Canada’s immigration laws.”

Partey was traveling back to Ghana’s base camp in Rhode Island after his visa denial. He will be able to play June 23 when Ghana plays England in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Ghana concludes group play June 27 against Croatia in Philadelphia.

Partey is scheduled to stand trial in November or later on allegations dating to his time with English club Arsenal from 2020-25. Partey, who now plays in Spain for Villarreal, has pleaded not guilty.

A second World Cup player, Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi, is awaiting trial on similar charges in Paris.

Ghana is making its fifth appearance in the last six World Cups.

TORONTO — Late substitute Cyle Larin scored in the 78th minute and co-host Canada earned its first point in its third World Cup appearance — and first on home soil — by rallying for a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday.

Playing in the shadow of Toronto’s iconic CN Tower, and in front of a sea of red “Ca-na-da!” chanting fans that included hockey star Connor McDavid and actor Ryan Reynolds, Larin converted Promise David’s pass a mere two minutes after entering the game.

The goal was only the second in World Cup play scored by Canada after the team lost all three of its games at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and again four years ago at Qatar.

Injury fill-in Jovo Lukic headed in a corner kick in the 21st minute for Bosnia-Herzegovina, which is making its second World Cup appearance after failing to advance out of group play in 2014.

Starting in place of Edin Dzeko (shoulder) and Haris Tabakovic (undisclosed), Lukic was in a ideal position to cap a set piece with captain Sead Kolasinac flicking along a header off Ivan Basic’s corner kick. The goal was Lukic’s first in international play and coming in the 27-year-old attacker’s fourth international appearance.

Despite giving up the lead, the small Balkan nation of about 3 million people keeps coming up big on the international stage — including eliminating four-time champion Italy in the European playoffs.

Before Larin’s goal, Canada’s best scoring chance came in the 54th minute when captain Stephen Eustaquio fed the ball to Richie Laryea in front of a wide-open net. The ball deflected off Kolasinac’s foot and hit the crossbar.

Canada was playing without Alphonso Davies (hamstring), who scored the nation’s first World Cup goal four years ago in Qatar.

Canada now shifts to Vancouver for its final two group games, against Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.

The Bosnians also head west, with games against Switzerland on June 18 in Los Angeles and Qatar on June 24 in Seattle.

Wawrow writes for the Associated Press.

Canada has tied the score at 1-1 against Bosnia in their World Cup group opener at BMO Field in Toronto.

The Canadians use some nifty passing in the middle of the field to set up Cyle Larin with a point-blank shot in the 78th minute that beat goalkeeper Nikola Vasilj to his left. The assist went to Promise David, who flicked a pass from Ismael Kone to Larin.

Canada would another couple of shots on goal, and in the final minute of extra time Larin had another close-range shot that was blocked by a sliding Nikola Katic. Otherwise, Canada would have pulled off the dramatic comeback.

Canada went on the attack early in the second half, putting Bosnia on the defensive.

The best scoring opportunity for the Canadians, who trail 1-0, came about 14 minutes into the second half when they worked the ball down the left sideline and into the center of the penalty area.

A through ball to Richie Laryea created a shot from the left side of the six-yard box that beat the goalkeeper to the right side but Bosnia’s Sead Kolasinac got a boot on the ball and sent it off the crossbar back onto the pitch, where it was cleared.

Canada had two more shots on goal after that, but again could not score and went into the second-half hydration break still looking to even the score.

Bosnia’s Jovo Lukic celebrates after scoring against Canada on a header off a set piece in the 20th minute of their World Cup group game on Friday in Toronto.

(Charlotte Wilson / Getty Images)

Bosnia is on the board with the game’s first goal in the 20th minute of play.

Jovo Lukic scored on a header in a set piece after a Canadian defender committed a foul on a counter attack along the right wing.

Sead Kolasinac delivered the cross into the six-yard box, where Lukic flicked it into the left side of the net.

Bosnia kept Canada scoreless for the remainder of the first half to take the 1-0 lead into halftime.

Canada and Bosnia have kicked off at BMO Field in Toronto.

It’s the third game of the World Cup that is hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States.

A few hours after Lionel Messi and the Argentine World Cup team checked into their training base in Kansas City, a series of thunderstorms pounded the area, knocking out power, felling trees and bringing flood and tornado warnings.

Hardly ideal conditions for the world’s biggest soccer tournament. Yet that’s likely just the opening salvo of a disruptive weather system that could affect the 38-day competition, which kicks off next week with games in Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

Julian Ryerson hadn’t learned to walk the last time Norway played in the World Cup. He was just 7 months old then, and if he had known his country was going to go 0 for the 21st century when it came to World Cup qualifying, he might have considered pursuing a sport other than soccer.

But that drought will finally end next week when Norway plays in the World Cup for the first time in nearly three decades.

“It’s been a long wait, especially for the Norwegian people,” he said. “They’ve been waiting as long as I am old. So yeah, I think everybody’s ready.”

TORONTO — Bosnia-Herzegovina made it to the World Cup on the last day of European qualifying. Now it’s facing one of the three co-hosts, Canada, in its opener.

Doesn’t bother the Balkan side at all.

“Even if we are underrated or underdogs, we did something that everyone knows who we are,” forward Ermedin Demirovic said before practice Thursday. “It’s not a problem to be the underdog, to be honest,”

Bosnia kicks off its second World Cup appearance Friday against Canada, a team that sits more than 30 places above it in the FIFA rankings.

Bosnia is 64th, the lowest-ranked team in Group B behind Switzerland (19), Canada (30) and Qatar (56).

“We are a small country, this is our second ever World Cup and for sure we are sort of an underdog in many of the matches ahead,” coach Sergej Barbarez said. “But if you look at the previous 20 or so games there were only two teams that were ranked lower than us, and if you know our results, I think that you have to just admire what we’ve managed to achieve.”

The Bosnians qualified for the World Cup via the European playoffs, defeating Wales in the semifinals and upsetting Italy in the finals. They advanced on penalties each time.

Midfielder Amar Memic said Bosnia’s difficult qualifying road has prepared the team for the global stage.

“I think that it shows how much quality we have that we can play these big games and that we are prepared,” he said.

Bosnia’s only previous World Cup appearance was in 2014 in Brazil. The team lost to Argentina and Nigeria, then beat Iran and finished third in Group F.

Two players return from that squad: defender Sead Kolasinac and forward Edin Dzeko.

This time the team has brought along a viral song to the World Cup, “I Am from Bosnia — Take Me To America.” On Friday, the Bosnians will at least be playing in North America, and judging from the blue jerseys spotted on Toronto streets Thursday, they’ll have some support.

Dzeko, Bosnia’s career goals leader, suffered a shoulder injury in the win over Italy in March. He’s played just 64 minutes since and did not feature in either of Bosnia’s recent friendlies against North Macedonia and Panama.

The 40-year-old striker was a full participant in Bosnia’s final practice before its opening match, and Barbarez said he would be available for the game.

“The quality of him is something really special,” Demirovic said. “Not many teams have this quality.”

Cameros writes for the Associated Press and is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

Tim Ream is the only player on the American World Cup team who was alive the last time the tournament was played in the U.S. But he was only 6, so the memories are kind of sketchy.

“I remember bits and pieces of 1994,” he said.

In many ways, the most ambitious World Cup in history — which kicked off Thursday in Mexico City — has inspired more angst than anticipation, more fear than fervor.

The competition, returning to North America for the first time in more than three decades, has expanded to 48 teams and 104 matches, to be played over 39 days in 16 cities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The complex planning was eight years in the making.

TORONTO — Luke Reece never played hockey growing up in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga. Instead, he played soccer, like many Canadians who are now adults.

The sport is so popular it has surpassed hockey and all other sports in youth participation, according to a recent report by Jumpstart, a Canadian charity that helps low-income youth play organized sports. It said half the nation’s youth participate in organized soccer.

Reece was one of many locals sporting Canada soccer gear on Thursday ahead of their nation’s World Cup opener Friday against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“Wish I had tickets to the game tomorrow, but I don’t,” Reece said. “I’m going to a game in Vancouver. It was cheaper to get a ticket out there.”

Is Canada about to have a soccer moment?

“It already has a good hold in this country in terms of participation. I think we all expect that to grow. These tournaments inspire so many next-generation people to find their heroes, play the game,” said Christina Linz, president of the women’s Northern Super League. “I think (it) will really draw those emotional connections.”

Thursday in Toronto looked a bit like wear-your-favorite-soccer-jersey day as the tournament opened in Mexico. Canada’s red tops, like the one worn by Reece, were among the most popular.

Mexico (No. 13) and the United States (No. 17), the other co-hosts for the World Cup, each sit higher in FIFA’s rankings than Canada, which is 30th, but that means there’s more to gain for the Canadians. Especially when it comes to generating passion for the sport.

Canada coach Jesse Marsch said Thursday he has “felt a real momentum behind this team and behind this moment” as Canada Soccer, the sport’s national governing body, looks to capitalize on hosting the World Cup for the first time.

“Canada has become more and more multicultural, and I think the excitement for so many different nations to be here in North America and in Canada, and to be playing with all of the greatest players in the world and some of the greatest coaches, I think that there’s real excitement behind what this will be,” Marsch said.

Potentially stalling the potential of Marsch’s squad is the absence of star defender Alphonso Davies, who was ruled out for Friday’s match as he continues to nurse a hamstring injury sustained during Bayern Munich’s Champions League semifinal against Paris Saint-Germain on May 6.

Marsch is hopeful that Davies will be able to return at some point in the group stage. He said Davies had an MRI on Wednesday.

“We’re getting ready to ramp things up,” Marsch said Thursday.

Davies is one of many Canada players fighting injuries. Defender Moise Bombito is recovering from a broken leg, but Marsch said Bombito is “ready to contribute.”

Regardless of who’s on the pitch for Canada, it’s ready to make a statement, and players are eager to prove their country is a soccer nation.

“Every one of these boys is incredibly Canadian, and the pride they have in putting on the jersey, representing the country, hearing the national anthem,” Marsch said. “These guys sing the national anthem, belt it out to the top of their lungs, because they want to show the country how proud they are to be here, to be Canadians, and to represent what Canada is.”

Linderman writes for the Associated Press and is a student in the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State.

As the 2026 FIFA World Cup is set to kick off in Los Angeles on June 12, fashion designers across the Southern California region are putting a spin on traditional sports jerseys.

Whether it be screen printing powerful messages on a traditional tee, or upcycling large shirts into more flattering silhouettes, creatives are finding innovative ways to show off their pride.

In a perfect world, you’d be able to take a helicopter from your home straight to Sofi Stadium during the World Cup. But unfortunately, we do not live in that world, so you’ll probably need to find a reliable and cheap way to get to the World Cup.

Fans from all around will flock to the Los Angeles area for the biggest sport event in the world, meaning that traffic will be worse (if you can imagine), buses will be fuller and Metro stops will drown in the flags and jerseys of all competing nations.

MEXICO CITY — On the eve of the World Cup kickoff, FIFA President Gianni Infantino called for patience in the face of a series of crises that threaten to overshadow the start of the tournament, led by the case of Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan, who was denied entry into the United States.

On Thursday, Mexico faces South Africa at the Mexico City Stadium, kicking off the 38-day tournament with matches in Mexico, the United States and Canada . The run-up to the global spectacle has been marked by controversy, including the U.S. denial of participant and fan visas and high ticket prices that have triggered attorney general inquiries in the United States.

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The opening lyrics couldn’t be plainer: “I am from Bosnia; take me to America.” But by rewriting its classic “USA,” the Bosnian band Dubioza Kolektiv has transformed a song about disillusionment with the American Dream into a viral anthem powering Bosnia-Herzegovina’s own World Cup dreams.

On the eve of Friday’s match between Bosnia and Canada, members of the genre-bending rock group met The Associated Press in the Sarajevo neighborhood where they filmed the new music video for the accordion-heavy earworm, now titled “I Am From Bosnia, Take Me to America.” In less than three weeks, the video celebrating soccer’s working-class roots has notched nearly 2 million views on YouTube — on top of the 26 million views the original “USA,” released in 2011, has amassed over the years.

“It’s an interesting story how this song got its second and third and fourth incarnation in these 15 years,” muses Vedran Mujagić, bassist for the band that has woven political and social causes into its identity. “It evolved from this satirical take on immigration and (the) American Dream and it was translated into (an) American football dream for the entire nation.”

Bosnia-Herzegovina is making only its second appearance at a World Cup, a goal that once seemed improbable as more traditional soccer powers stood in the way of qualification. At the end of April, though, Bosnia’s late goal against Wales propelled the team to a victorious penalty shootout, a feat it would replicate days later against Italy. The band members were surprised when fans unfurled a banner emblazoned with their lyrics, singing them as a rallying cry.

“First, it was working as a joke, but what I like the most is the supporters kind of loaded completely new meaning to the old song, and this is the best thing for the band or for the song: when people take over and load new meaning and then it becomes theirs,” keyboardist Brano Jakubović says. “It’s not ours anymore.”

An own goal lament turns joyous

The original “USA” is as up-tempo and catchy — it’s hard not to wander around muttering, “I can no longer wait, take me to United States / Take me to Golden Gate, I will assimilate” — but its protagonist’s eagerness to flee slides quickly to disenchantment with life outside the Balkans.

The band decided to deliver an updated version of what Jakubović describes as a “typical immigrant song,” writing new lyrics befitting a soccer anthem. While “USA” is in English, this version is mostly in Bosnian — “so people will understand,” he says — and mostly about the sport. The language switch has done nothing to lessen its global appeal, as a quick perusal of the YouTube comments suggests, though there are some jokes Jakubović acknowledges would be inscrutable outside Bosnia. (See: burek without cheese.)

Jakubović’s favorite new line is a chance to excise something that has haunted the country since the 2014 World Cup: “And that goal against Nigeria, that was never offside.”

“So this is like a big national trauma in Bosnia, so I used the song and lyrics to kind of release this trauma,” he says.

He’s being wry there, but trauma has been a mainstay since Bosnia’s independence amid the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1992. Interethnic war almost immediately broke out, leading to genocide. More than 30 years after the Srebrenica massacre, deep division between Bosnian Serbs and Bosniak Muslims persist.

“Football in this moment is much more than just a game, it’s a hope and it’s very basically (a) political thing because it brought all the people from Bosnia together, which is usually not the case,” Jakubović says.

I am from Bosnia, take me to ... Canada?

Bosnia’s first match is in Canada, but the team will indeed be taken to America. Their base camp is in Sandy, Utah, and the other group stage matches — against Switzerland and Qatar — are in the States. And, as Mujagić points out, many of the players were born in the U.S. or elsewhere in the diaspora.

“They are children of those people who went outside in search of a better life or as refugees or whatever their story was. And they kind of see and hear these lyrics and this song entirely differently from us,” he says.

Mujagić thinks the original message of “USA” endures as Bosnians still emigrate. Once they leave, he finds, “they encounter this hostility of the locals, right-wingers, and they just don’t want them there.”

“So it’s this schizophrenic situation in which you want to go there, but you somehow know that you won’t have it good on the other side as well,” he concludes. “So in that sense, this song still works perfectly well as it worked before.”

He and his fellow supporters are big fans of Dubioza Kolektiv and sing their anthem at matches and watch parties. More often than not, though, it’s the original “USA.”

“It’s engraved in their brain and their hearts,” he says, “and no matter what, they just go back to the old lyrics, you know?”

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The head of the Palestinian Football Association is waiting in Mexico City for permission to enter the United States with other federation heads attending the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Jibril Rajoub went to the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday. But he is among several people accredited to attend the World Cup who have been denied visas or have yet to receive them from the United States.

“I don’t believe that it’s fair to use or to abuse and deny the right of all footballers all over the world to attend,” the veteran Palestinian political figure said in an interview with The Associated Press.

The Palestinian team did not qualify for the World Cup, but FIFA typically invites the heads of football associations from around the world to the event every four years, which it frames as a celebration of global unity.

“Everyone will be welcome in Canada, Mexico and the United States for the FIFA World Cup next year. We are working exactly for that,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said last year.

The United States, however, has refused entry to delegates from a raft of countries, including a referee from Somalia and a photographer traveling with Iraq’s team.

Infantino said this week that FIFA had been trying to resolve visa issues but could not overrule the U.S. government.

“We need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

The U.S. State Department had no immediate comment on Rajoub’s visa, but last year implemented new restrictions on Palestinian passport holders, including on anyone who had been employed by the Palestinian Authority.

It revoked a visa to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to the United Nations General Assembly last September.

Rajoub and other Palestinian soccer officials have long argued that Israel violates statutes by allowing teams from settlements in the occupied West Bank play in Israel’s national league. They have pushed FIFA to sanction Israel, also decrying restrictions on the movement of Palestinian players and how war in the Gaza Strip has damaged or destroyed 80% of sports facilities and killed at least 565 players there, according to the association.

Last month, Rajoub refused to shake hands with the head of Israel’s football federation at Infantino’s behest because he said the gesture would not heal wounds but instead whitewash Israel’s actions.

Rajoub pointed out that when Russia hosted the 2018 World Cup, it did not implement comparable visa restrictions for people who were invited to the tournament.

Metz writes for the Associated Press. Matthew Lee of the Associated Press contributed reporting from Washington.

The first time a World Cup game was played in the U.S., the opening ceremony featured Oprah Winfrey tumbling off a stage and Diana Ross shanking a penalty shot several yards wide of the goal.

“At the time, it was a little bit of a panic,” said Alan Rothenberg, the man who organized that tournament. “But ultimately, once the competition started, it flowed nicely.”

So nicely that the 1994 World Cup remains the most successful in history, averaging crowds of 68,991 a match and earning a $50-million surplus for the host committee. Both figures are still records 32 years later.

The Los Angeles Organizing Committee has collaborated with an array of agencies to create one primary fan festival and 10 official fan zones throughout the L.A. area during the 39-day World Cup.

Match broadcasts there will be available via Fox and Telemundo, allowing attendees to follow the tournament live throughout the competition. Each venue will have different programming.

Chris Richards was a lock for the World Cup in 2022. As a big, mobile and physical central defender who had played at the top levels of European club soccer, he was just what the U.S. needed on its back line.

Then two months before the tournament, he was sidelined because of a hamstring strain that wouldn’t heal. The day before the World Cup roster was announced, a devastated Richards said he wouldn’t be ready.

Representatives from the U.S., Mexico and Canada collaborated to win the right to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup in North America.

(Davide Barco / For The Times)

Hours before the 2018 World Cup kicked off in Russia, delegates representing more than 200 FIFA member states filed into a massive conference center rising above the left bank of the Moscow River.

There they would be voting to pick a host for the 2026 tournament and the ballot held just two candidates: Morocco, bidding for the World Cup for the fifth time, and a joint bid from the U.S., Mexico and Canada, marking the first time three countries offered to share host duties.

Times reporter Kevin Baxter and Times en Español reporters Eduard Cauich and Jad El Reda help readers prepare for the World Cup.

You have attended many World Cups in your careers. What advice do you have for fans attending for the first time?

Baxter: Don’t treat it like just another sporting event because it’s not. This is not a World Series or even a Super Bowl. It’s the world’s Super Bowl. So drink in the passion, enjoy the international flavor. Get there early and stay late because it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Cauich: Watch every game somewhere with other people: at a bar, a viewing party or surrounded by family. Yes, tickets are expensive, but there are plenty of places to catch the action for free alongside fellow fans. For me, that’s always been the point. These are the moments that stay with you for a long time.

NEW YORK — Christian Pulisic looked exhausted as he stepped from a yellow cab on the edge of Manhattan’s financial district for a promotional event arranged by his shoe sponsor.

A day earlier, he had been booed off the field after going scoreless in his final 17 games with AC Milan. And as Pulisic’s private jet made its way from Italy to New York, the club’s coach, sporting director and two other top executives were sacked.

A day later Pulisic walked across a stage overlooking the East River to cheers during a sparsely attended rally in which the U.S. roster for this summer’s World Cup was announced.

Sitting among a pint-raising crowd at a Manhattan soccer bar on the first day of the World Cup, George Carson described himself as a huge soccer fan who hopes to catch all 104 games of the global tournament.

But on Saturday?

“We got to watch the Knicks,” he said.

In most nations hosting the World Cup, soccer is a fixation. But with the New York Knicks holding a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven NBA Finals against San Antonio and one win from their first title since 1973, attention is surely going to be split this weekend. The Knicks can clinch with a victory in Game 5 on Saturday night. Tipoff will come shortly after Brazil and Morocco wrap a World Cup match in New Jersey, and it will directly overlap with a showdown between Scotland and Haiti.

“I want to watch all the World Cup games, but for us, the Knicks is still a priority,” the 38-year-old Carson said while he and a friend viewed the World Cup opening ceremony at The Football Factory at Legends, a soccer bar near Madison Square Garden. “I’ll probably catch the (soccer) recap after.”

The Knicks have gripped New York, but even some diehard fans already have divided attention. Hours before sitting courtside for the Knicks’ historic Game 4 rally at MSG, film director Spike Lee was clad in green and gold for a visit to Brazil’s training facility in New Jersey on Wednesday.

Brazil plays Morocco in its opener at East Rutherford, New Jersey, at 6 p.m. EDT, a match slated to end about 30 minutes before the NBA game starts in Texas.

The Football Factory has 20 screens, enough to satisfy all fandoms.

“I hope they put it to bed Saturday night, so we can just say, well done, Knicks. Have your parade, and that’s it. Now we can concentrate on the soccer,” said Jack Keane, the Irishman who owns The Football Factory.

Keane’s bar hosts supporters groups from Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Leeds and AC Milan. He estimated more than 2,000 people came through his bar on Wednesday night, when the Knicks won Game 4.

“The Knicks crowd was the same as the Champions League final crowd,” he said.

Keane’s bar was charging a $20 cover, with one drink included, for the Mexico-South Africa opener.

A 10-minute walk south and east, fans also were lined up to enter Smithfield Hall, which hosts the supporters clubs of Manchester United, West Ham, Nottingham Forest, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Roma and Marseille.

“Usually for American sports, because they’re longer, people don’t like to stand,” said Kieron Slattery, an Irishman who is Smithfield’s co-owner. “For the Knicks right now, they’re standing. It’s like a soccer game atmosphere.”

Most of the fans watching Thursday were New Yorkers, many of them originally from elsewhere.

Ryan Cole, a 44-year-old from Britain’s Southampton who has lived in New York for a dozen years, wore an England jersey and hopes to come up with a ticket for The Three Lions’ group-stage game against Panama on June 27. His grandfather, William Cole, was an English League linesman — he has a program with the grandpa’s name from a Manchester-Chelsea match in 1952.

“You just see a wave of jerseys everywhere, which is amazing,” he said of the soccer kits and Knicks gear. “It’s just amazing to be in New York all the time, but now in particular with the Knicks, with the World Cup, with summer, couldn’t be happier.”

One of his friends, 46-year-old Joel Ramirez, is a New York transplant from Dallas with Mexican parents. During the 2022 World Cup, he watched games at different ethnic restaurants that had ties to a team involved in the match, such as Brooklyn’s Sunset Park for Mexico. He thinks the soccer supporters will have greater numbers in the bars Saturday than Knicks fans.

“There’s going to be pound for pound a lot more football fans in the city,” he said. “I’ll be watching both.”

New York City soccer bars open early on weekends for fans to watch lunchtime matches in England and Europe. The World Cup is different.

“When you look at the Premier League, it’s a niche market, still. There’s people who watch it, people who don’t,” Keane said. “The World Cup is the big one. It’s the big party. Everyone’s got a shirt in the closet. Everyone’s going to claim either their own identity or a parent or a grandparent, get on the bandwagon.”

More men have been elected president of the United States than have played for the U.S. in a World Cup game on home soil.

It is among the rarest of achievements in a country that has achieved so much.

Two dozen Americans have flown to the moon, 116 have sat on the Supreme Court, 25 have run a mile in under 3:51 and 76 have won the Nobel Prize in chemistry.

Somali referee Omar Abdulkadir Artan was denied entry into the United States for the World Cup after enduring an 11-hour interrogation in Miami, according to media reports. Andrew Giuliani, head of the White House Task Force on the World Cup, indicated Artan was suspected to having ties to a Somali militant group.

“We want to make sure we are not going to allow a soccer tournament to be the opportunity for terrorists to potentially get in the country or anybody who is actually talking to them,” Giuliani told the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The first match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the U.S. — when the United States takes on Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood — is coming Friday. Soccer fans are psyched, and scammers aim to profit from that, L.A. sheriff’s officials say.

Cyberscammers are zeroing in on the heightened emotions people are feeling surrounding the World Cup, said Sgt. Peter Hish of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau.

“They know we’re excited [because] what’s bigger in Los Angeles than soccer?” Hish said.

The World Cup has officially landed in Los Angeles, and for fans without match tickets, attending the FIFA Fan Festival could be the next best thing.

Taking place Thursday through Sunday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the family-friendly event will feature live match broadcasts on jumbo screens, cultural programming, interactive experiences, an official World Cup merchandise store, food vendors serving global cuisine and live music performances from headlining artists like Steve Aoki, Capital Cities and Normani.

MEXICO CITY — FIFA president Gianni Infantino described Mexico City Stadium as a venue “blessed by the gods” and a “true cathedral of soccer.”

Azteca Stadium, as most people know it, is steeped in soccer history and is now the only venue to host three World Cup opening ceremonies. But the Mexican national team had never much World Cup success at the venue.

On Thursday, spurred on by most of the 80,824 fans in attendance and forwards Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez, Mexico managed to defeat South Africa 2-0 and securing its first opening match victory.

After a break of more than three decades, the FIFA World Cup returns to North America where it will be shared by the continent’s three countries, the U.S., Mexico and Canada. It will be the largest and most complex tournament in history, with 48 teams playing 104 games in 16 cities over 39 days.

But it hasn’t been without its controversies. High ticket prices and exorbitant transportation and parking fees have angered fans and drawn the attention of politicians and state attorneys general. Visa restrictions have blocked residents from four qualifying nations from entering the U.S. and fear of immigration agents has discouraged fans of other countries from coming.

For the U.S. and Mexico the goal is to get beyond the quarterfinals, the high-water mark for both countries in the modern era. Canada, meanwhile, will play in its third World Cup looking for its first win.

Here’s where things stand in World Cup Group A following Mexico and South Korea’s victories on Thursday:

The opening day of the FIFA World Cup offered plenty of memorable moments.

Check out The Times’ Day 1 recap from Thursday:

Soccer

FIFA World Cup Day 1 recap: Mexico and South Korea open with victories

Follow along for live updates from the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Thursday. Get the latest news, results and highlights from the 48-team, 39-day tournament.

June 11, 2026

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is underway, with Mexico defeating South Africa and South Korea prevailing over Czechia in Group A play Thursday.

The tournament headed north Friday, with Canada and Bosnia-Herzegovina playing to a 1-1 draw in Toronto before the United States opened Group D play with a 4-1 win over Paraguay.

Here’s everything you need to know about matches being played on Friday and Saturday in the 48-team tournament across the U.S., Mexico and Canada.