world cup

Daiki Kaneko had only 24 hours before his World Cup journey took him to Dallas, where his home country’s squad will take on Sweden.

The Japanese soccer fan was making the most of it on Tuesday in Inglewood, snapping pictures of SoFi Stadium before taking in a different kind of monument: a space-age, two-story branch of the chicken chain Raising Cane’s, complete with a 308-square-foot screen, a mirrored dog sculpture and a massive halo hovering around the exterior.

For Kaneko, 25, who lives in the Tokyo suburbs, it was the perfect encapsulation of American grandeur.

“All this for chicken,” he said. “I love America.”

Inglewood is already diverse — most residents are Latino or Black, and nearly a third are immigrants. But during the World Cup, it’s looking more like the United Nations. English, Japanese, Swiss, Iranians, Paraguayans, Bosnians, Belgians and others are flocking to the city of about 102,000, where eight matches are being played at SoFi Stadium.

Though visitors from abroad may not have heard of Inglewood until now, they’re soaking up the vibes of a city that has long been a major sports and entertainment hub, home to venues such as the Kia Forum and Intuit Dome, and a crucible of Black culture, immortalized in hip-hop songs by artists such as Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre.

“We’re an international city now,” Mayor James Butts said.

Butts said locals were already proud of what the city has become, but the World Cup has put the celebratory feelings over the top.

“We have people from so many different countries migrating to Inglewood, and there’s an explosive sense of community pride,” he said.

Bartender Elijah Gonzalez, left, mixes a drink at the Nile Bar in Inglewood while customers watch a World Cup soccer preview.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

City officials are doing everything they can to embrace the spirit of the tournament, including speeding up permits so small businesses and neighborhoods can hold World Cup gatherings and watch parties, Butts said. During the U.S.’s opening match against Paraguay on June 12, the city hosted the Wood Cup, a block party on Market Street that brought in more than 5,000 people.

Businesses across the city are embracing the tournament as well, vying for a piece of the roughly $17 million the city expects to haul in. For a few weeks, concerns about skyrocketing housing costs and gentrification, brought on by the city’s increasing popularity as a place to settle down, are taking a back seat to the sheer fun of international soccer.

The supersized Raising Cane’s had its grand opening on June 11, the first day of the tournament. During the USMNT’s opening match, Cinepolis, a luxury movie theater down the road from SoFi Stadium, turned into a global sports hub, according to CEO Luis Olloqui.

Maddy Daversa, a bartender at the Meeting Spot, a restaurant near the stadium, said 2,000 people poured in when the Americans played Paraguay.

“I was selling beers for five hours straight,” she said. “It was crazy.”

Daversa said the restaurant is usually closed on Mondays but opened in hopes of getting some spillover fans from the Iran-New Zealand game at SoFi.

“Every table was full,” she said. “We’re taking advantage.”

Tuesday was an off day for Inglewood, with no games at SoFi. But the energy was still palpable, with locals sporting soccer jerseys and tourists popping up across the city.

“I just want to be where the fans are,” said David Meier, a Swiss fan in town for his home country’s match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Thursday.

Meier, 45, plans to explore L.A. via bars, restaurants and watch parties, taking in every game that his schedule will allow before heading north of the border to Vancouver, where Switzerland will face Canada on June 24.

“Everyone has been so kind,” he said. “Soccer and beer turns strangers into friends.”

Flags from countries competing in the World Cup are on display at Manchester Boulevard and South Market Street in Inglewood.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The energy carried over to Market Street, a historic shopping district about a mile from SoFi Stadium. Businesses set up signs, posters and international flags to lure locals and tourists alike, while the Miracle Theater hosted a watch party for the match between France and Senegal.

Owen Smith, who co-owns the theater with his wife, Mariana, said a Senegalese friend who grew up in France asked if he would be willing to show the game on the big screen. A day later, fans of both teams assembled inside, snapping photos in front of a giant inflatable World Cup trophy in the lobby.

“The Miracle is a cultural event theater. It’s about accommodating the community,” Smith said.

Benyam Woldegiorgis, who co-owns the Nile Bar on Market Street, is showing every single World Cup match — all 104 of them.

“It brings in business,” he said. “Usually it’s just football, basketball and baseball, but now we’re adding soccer to the mix.”

Dionte Johnson, owner of the streetwear store Kingsrowe, partnered with Adidas to hold a watch party for the U.S. team’s opener and said the turnout was massive, bringing in loads of Mexico fans who are local residents, even though their team had already won their opener the day before.

“The downside of the World Cup is that tickets are so expensive, so a lot of locals can’t go check out the games themselves. That’s why we’re hosting events,” Johnson said. “The games are in our backyard, so this is something people have had on their calendar for a long time.”

Homeowners are cashing in as well, with some renting out their places on Airbnb for a small fortune, figuring that crashing on a friend’s couch or booking a hotel room elsewhere is well worth the lofty payouts brought by World Cup demand.

Across L.A., hotel demand lagged compared with initial expectations, but short-term rental prices still jumped 56% compared with typical rates, and more than 70% of rentals were booked by December 2025.

In Inglewood — especially for rentals walkable to SoFi Stadium — prices became dizzying.

David Orenstein and his wife, Peggy, run an Airbnb across the street from SoFi Stadium. It usually rents for $400 per night, but for the U.S. team’s opening game, it went for $3,000.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

Peggy Orenstein and her husband, David, own a home steps from the stadium that typically rents for $400 a night on Airbnb. For the U.S. team’s opener, the nightly rate shot up to $3,000.

For other matches, the four-bedroom house is going for $1,200 to $1,500 a night. Orenstein said the high demand and international crowds are a teaser for what’s to come.

“Next up is the Olympics,” she said. “This is a great learning lesson for what we can expect.”

VANCOUVER, Canada — When the first men’s World Cup game played in Canada kicked off last week, Anthony Totera sat in the stands and wept.

“It was a dream come true,” said Totera, who has spent most of his 57 years on earth promoting Canadian soccer. “I can’t describe the emotions. It was something surreal.”

If the 1994 World Cup, the first held in the U.S., forever altered the direction of American soccer, this summer’s tournament, which Canada is sharing with the U.S. and Mexico, has the potential to do the same for that country.

“This is going to be something monumental,” Totera said. “We’re going to get to another level, another point, where we’re going to say this was when it all turned.”

With an opening draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week in Toronto and Thursday’s 6-0 blowout victory over Qatar in Vancouver, this tournament is already the most successful on the field for Canada, which had lost all six previous World Cup games it had played. Now it’s poised to advance to the knockout rounds for the first time ever.

Jonathan David’s three goals were more than Canada had scored in its previous World Cup seven games combined. And former LAFC goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, who lost his chance to play in the last World Cup when he broke his leg in the MLS Cup final, had no trouble making them stand up, recording Canada’s first-ever World Cup clean sheet.

The hosts outshoot Qatar 32-2 and had 97 touches in the box in one of the most dominant performances in recent World Cup history.

“I really think that we’re a soccer country,” LAFC midfielder Stephen Eustaquio said. “It’s a very special group.”

But the win was a costly one since Canada, which entered the tournament missing three starters to injury, lost another early in the second half when midfielder Ismael Kone was carted off on a stretcher with an apparent broken leg after Qatar’s Assim Madibo clipped him from behind.

And while that success on the field — costly or not — is significant, Steve Reed, the former Canadian Soccer Assn. president who was instrumental in bringing the World Cup to Canada, said the real goal wasn’t to win games as much as it was to win over the public.

“Each time we have hosted major tournaments, we have seen a significant increase in participation and general public interest,” said Reed, who was part of the group that organized the 2015 women’s World Cup in Canada. That tournament produced nearly a half-billion dollars in economic activity, double the original projections. It also boosted investment of soccer infrastructure, including the construction or upgrading of 21 “FIFA-quality” pitches, and surged youth participation numbers. The quarterfinal game between the host country and England drew a record TV audience of 20.8 million Canadians.

“I would say that we have proved that we excel at hosting major events. This will just be reinforced in 2026,” Reed said.

“In terms of expectations,” he continued, “one would be the continued growth of the game, particularly on the men’s side. We have always been great at the grassroots level. But we need to be better at the top end of the game, creating more professional opportunities for players in our domestic leagues and creating a pipeline to bigger clubs in major leagues.”

Canada fans celebrate after a 6-0 win over Qatar at the World Cup on Thursday.

(Kaleb Tatum / Associated Press)

That’s exactly the kind of legacy the 1994 World Cup created in the U.S., where it gave birth to Major League Soccer, a deep lower-tier professional infrastructure and an academy system that has sent players to major teams all over the world. Canada has also benefited from that, with MLS placing teams in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Nine players from the league — including three from LAFC — are on Canada’s World Cup team.

In the last decade, Canada has begun building its own youth development system. It also launched the Canadian Premier League, an eight-team professional league that has already sent 15 players to the national team. Those initiatives had a good foundation to build on since soccer is Canada’s most popular sport in terms of registration and participation and ranks behind only hockey as a spectator sport.

Still, when Victor Montagliani, a former Canadian Soccer Assn. president, first publicly floated the idea of bidding to host the men’s World Cup in 2013, he was lampooned.

“People absolutely laughed at him, all across this country,” said Totera, who is now the grassroots ambassador for the Premier League. “But his closest friends and people that knew him knew he didn’t lie when he said, ‘I want to bring the World Cup to Canada.’ And he brought it.”

Canada had to pair with the U.S. and Mexico to make that happen, with the so-called United Bid beating back a proposal from Morocco thanks in part to some steady diplomacy from Reed, who took over as president when Montagliani was chosen to lead CONCACAF, the governing body that oversees soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Canada’s reward was 13 World Cup games — seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto. Mexico gets the same number, while 78 of the record 104 matches will be played in the U.S.

That same year, 2018, Reed and Canada Soccer put the final piece of its World Cup preparations in place when it hired John Herdman to rebuild its men’s team.

In seven years with the country’s women, Herdman had taken a team that finished last in the 2011 World Cup to the quarterfinals of the next tournament, sandwiched between two bronze-medal performances in the Olympic Games. His impact on the men’s team was equally as stunning.

When Herdman took over, it had been 32 years since Canada played in its only World Cup. The country not only returned in its first cycle under the new coach, but it won the CONCACAF qualifying tournament to earn its place in the 2022 tournament.

“Being a Canadian football supporter, the roller-coaster ride has been downward for most of the years,” said Totera, who pulled on his first Canada soccer shirt the year he entered first grade. “But for the last few years, it’s been on on the upswing.”

Herdman found success in part by making the recruitment of dual nationals a priority, starting four of them — including Alphonso Davies, who immigrated to Canada from a refugee camp in Ghana — in Qatar.

Nearly a quarter of Canada’s population was born somewhere else and Herdman leaned into that diversity.

Jesse Marsch, the U.S.-born coach who took over the national team in 2024, followed Herdman’s lead, recruiting six dual nationals to his World Cup team. As a result the 26 players on Canada’s roster, or their parents, come from more than 17 countries — from Iran, Croatia, Jamaica and Barbados to Haiti, Lebanon, Nigeria and the Philippines.

“We’re a melting pot. We embrace it,” said Totera, whose family moved to Canada from Italy. “I look at that team, our team, and they’re from all parts of the world. Not one from one section of the world or the other section. No, all over.

“Amazing.”

Now, with a win and draw in two games, that diverse Canadian team is almost certain to advance out of a World Cup group stage for the first time — just as the U.S. did when it first hosted a men’s World Cup in 1994.

“After ‘94, after the World Cup was there, they took off to bigger and better things,” Totera said. “I believe once we get into the knockout route, we won’t look back.

“We’re on the cusp of something really special in this country right now. And we need to grab it and run with it.”

Imagine it. A neophyte coach, leading a team for the first time at any competitive level, and it being a high-profile assignment on the biggest of big stages.

A self-assured broadcaster, critical and competitive, having his bluff called, being invited to not just talk about it, but to be about it: Walk the walk, why don’t you?

A former player — scorer, shooter — being challenged to step up and right a listing ship while navigating politics and the push and pull of history and high hopes.

Imagine that guy going: “Bet.”

As in, you betcha. As in, I’d bet on me.

Lakers fans, you’ve seen JJ Redick run this play in the NBA.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s faithful — who comprised the vocal majority amidst the full house for Thursday’s 4-1 Group B loss to Switzerland at SoFi Stadium — are seeing manager Sergej Barbarez pull the same improbable stunt.

The 54-year-old Barbarez is Bosnia’s national soccer team’s fifth manager since 2022. He’s also a former national team captain turned professional poker player turned broadcaster whose turn coaching this team came as a complete shock.

He might be the most interesting man amidst a mass of most interesting men at the World Cup, and he has Bosnia back on two feet.

And he had them on equal footing Thursday until Switzerland scored the match’s first goal in the 74th minute.

“Maybe our start wasn’t that good,” Barbarez said through an interpreter. “But from the first cooling break until the goal, we were the better players, the better team.

“I don’t like self-pity,” he added. “I entered the dressing room and told them all that they have one hour to cheer up to lift their heads up.”

The loss to the 19th-ranked Swiss was the first in six matches for 64th-ranked Bosnia, following six consecutive 1-1 or 0-0 draws, including their 1-1 World Cup opener against host Canada.

They know they’ll have to win their next match Wednesday against Qatar for an opportunity to reach the knockout stage: “It seemed,” Barbarez said, “from the very beginning that the last game would be the most important one, and it turns out it is.”

And they’ll be ready, he said.

“It’s hurtful; it’s quite painful,” he said. “But this is my job, and trust me, I’ll make sure they will be fine ahead of the next game. We will try to remedy what happened.”

We’d expect to hear something similar from Redick — whose poker face isn’t as good as Barbarez’s, whose small sigh and slight smile betrayed his only emotions during his postgame news conference Thursday.

(As for who wore it better: Barbarez pumping up Bosnian fans in all-black business attire beats Redick’s all-black athleisure.)

Ahead of schedule and happy to be here, Bosnia is playing in the World Cup for the first time in 12 years. Playing hard with house money.

Barbarez spent most of his 14-year professional playing career in the Bundesliga, scoring 105 goals for Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen. When he retired, he got his coaching license but didn’t use it until 2024, taking a gamble on a different competitive calling.

He played poker professionally in Europe for a decade, made at least $143,000, according to Cardplayer.com, and reached two final tables in the World Series of Poker.

He also became an unabashed critic of the Football Assn. of Bosnia, which was churning through managers; three of them were hired and fired within months. Beyond failing to qualify for the 2024 Euros, Barbarez admonished the association’s leadership for its 2022 decision to schedule friendlies with Russia soon after it was banned by FIFA and UEFA for invading Ukraine.

And then, in April 2024, he was introduced as the national team manager.

“His energy and authority can be crucial factors in getting the national team back on track for success,” the president of the Football Federation Vico Zeljkovic told reporters.

Also key: “Personality,” Zeljkovic said.

Barbarez maintained from the outset that his goal was to qualify for the Euros in 2028 — and for his players to feel proud wearing Bosnia’s blue, yellow and white.

On Thursday, his players felt it and so did thousands of fans who showed up at SoFi Stadium wearing those colors for a World Cup match. All of them, all in.

“They support us all over the world,” said Ermin Mahmić, who scored his side’s only goal in the 93rd minute. “It’s not normal to be honest, and we’re very thankful for them.”

And surely for Barbarez, who took a path rarely traveled, willing to bet big on Bosnian football.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi isn’t the only one scoring in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Fox and Telemundo are off to a blazing start in the TV ratings for the quadrennial soccer tournament, delivering big increases over the 2022 World Cup held in Qatar.

Through the first 16 group stage matches, an average of 6 million viewers have watched on Fox and cable network FS1 cable network, a 128% increase over the 2022 FIFA World Cup according to Nielsen data.

The first 12 group stage matches of the tournament drew an average of 7.5 million viewers on the Comcast-owned Spanish language network Telemundo, a 234% increase from four years ago. The Telemundo telecasts are also streamed on Peacock.

The U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team’s opening match against Paraguay held Friday at SoFi Stadium set a record for the most-watched World Cup game on both and English and Spanish language television. The match scored 18 million viewers on Fox and its streaming platforms, while Telemundo’s telecast averaged 9.5 million.

The early ratings show the enduring power of live sporting events and their ability to draw mass audiences at a time when streaming video has splintered viewership . Scripted hit prime time TV shows need seven days or more of viewing on demand to reach the audience levels the World Cup is attracting in real time.

“Having this World Cup in North America clearly has a huge impact on ratings,” said Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis.

World Cup matches held in the U.S. for the first time since 1994 helps — and a competitive USNMT playing in front of home crowds could turbocharge the ratings to even bigger heights. Fox is expecting another record when the team plays its third group stage match in prime time on June 25.

Some sports media pundits have been citing the addition of out-of-home viewing and internet-connected televisions to Nielsen data as the reason sports ratings have been on the rise. But Mike Mulvihill, president of insights and analytics for Fox Sports, asserts that the viewers have been there all along.

“For many years, the numbers were under-counted and what we’re seeing now is a truer representation of the sports audience,” Mulvihill said in a recent interview. “You just cannot overstate what it means to us to be able to capture all that viewing that’s happening at fan fests, in bars and at smaller watch parties.”

Out-of-home viewing boosted the audience levels for Mexico’s inaugural World Cup match on June 11 by 50%, and contributed several million viewers to the total for the USMNT opener.

Mulvihill projects that by the end of the tournament, 150 million people will have watched some portion of Fox’s 2026 FIFA World Cup coverage. The figure approaches the 170 million people Fox reaches with a slate of regular season NFL games.

“For us, it’s like having two NFL seasons in a single year,” Mulvihill said.

Fox will be able to capitalize on the strong numbers for the early matches. Networks typically hold back some commercial inventory for big events in case audience levels fall short of what advertisers are guaranteed. Fox has surpassed those expectations and can now go back into the marketplace to sell available commercials for the later rounds, most likely for more than what was paid before the tournament.

The 2026 World Cup may also be benefiting from a viewing public that wants a distraction from the ongoing political discord in the U.S. and war in the Middle East.

“Sports still remains the one thing we can all kind of talk about and disagree about without it being divisive,” said Lisa Delpy Neirotti, director of the sports management program at the George Washington University School of Business.

Delphy Neirotti believes the World Cup has some momentum from the NBA Finals, which averaged 20.6 million viewers on ABC for the New York Knicks’ triumph over the San Antonio Spurs, The feel-good story of the Knicks winning their first championship in 53 years delivered the most-watched Finals since 1998 and put fans in the mood for more action.

“Fans were already primed up, meeting with friends, watching sports and now they can continue that camaraderie and that collective experience,” Delphy Neirotti said. “They want to be with community.”

The combined numbers for Fox and Telemundo are highest in Los Angeles, which in addition to a large Latino population has 500,000 Iranians. An average audience of 4.7 million viewers watched the Iranian national team play to a 2-2 tie against New Zealand on Monday, the second most-watched match ever on Fox Sports 1.

But there are plenty of World Cup fans in the heartland. Kansas City had the highest local rating for Fox’s coverage of the USMNT’s match, with more than 9% of the market’s homes tuning in.

Kansas City hosted its first World Cup match Tuesday at Arrowhead Stadium, where Argentina’s Messi set a tournament record with three goals in his team’s 3-0 victory over Algeria. The city has cultivated soccer fans with well-attended watch parties held in its Power and Light District.

“The watch parties that they’ve planned out throughout their cities to give people an opportunity to be part of the event, even though they’re not going to the event,” Rishe said. “Whether you’re watching or just walking by, it’s exciting.”

The run-up to the World Cup in Los Angeles was marked by anxiety over how immigration enforcement, travel restrictions and anti-Trump backlash would affect the spirit and attendance of the games.

But on the streets of L.A. over the last week, something very different has happened.

Fans from a kaleidoscope of cultural backgrounds have come together to act out the kind of world — and city — they want to live in.

On the shuttle bus from downtown to Inglewood on Monday, there were scores of people with Farsi-emblazoned shirts and crowds of grinning Kiwis as one would expect for the Iran-versus-New Zealand showdown that evening. However, there were also clusters of striped blue Argentina T-shirts, plenty of Team USA jerseys, and a loud group of fans chanting “Viva Mexico” from the back of the bus.

The mood was joyful before Monday’s match among fans of Iran’s national team. The players, because of restrictions by the Trump administration, have had to commute to the games from Tijuana.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Similar scenes played out on the Metro K Line as World Cup-goers from all over traded stories of how they scored tickets, tips for navigating L.A.’s transit system, and wistful memories of tournaments past.

“This festival is about unity and bringing the whole world together; there are 48 nations and everybody is having a good time,” said Ardy Salem, an Iranian American dentist who traveled from the Bay Area to attend the game, as he surveyed the crowd outside SoFi Stadium on Monday with unabashed glee.

“Just for a moment,” he said, “we get to leave all the politics behind.”

David Leon, 32, of Watts was grinning from ear to ear as he stood outside the stadium entrance in his forest-green Mexico jersey, despite the fact that he initially didn’t support having the World Cup in Los Angeles.

“I thought it was going to be a big issue for a bunch of different people to come here,” Leon said.

Fans of New Zealand show their support as they perform the haka, a traditional Maori dance and chant, at Monday’s match.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Leon worried that people from other countries would be turned off by American politics and fearful about traveling to the U.S.

Instead, he’s been delightfully entertained by tourists documenting their wholesome reactions to American culture on social media — such as the German man experiencing Waffle House for the first time and the Swedish woman blown away by ranch dressing.

“It really does bring people together from all these different ethnicities,” Leon said, looking at the lines of people waiting to get into the stadium. “I’ve seen Colombians, I’ve seen Mexicans, people from New Zealand, people from Iran, Germans, Spaniards.”

And for his own community of Mexican Americans, he said the matches had brought a much-needed infusion of joy. This time last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids were roiling Los Angeles, instilling fear throughout immigrant households.

Fans of Mexico are on hand at Monday’s match at SoFi Stadium. Before the World Cup, there were widespread fears of ICE presence at the games.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

Just last month, about 2,000 SoFi Stadium workers threatened to strike if they didn’t receive assurance that immigration agents would be kept out of the venue during the World Cup.

Leon said he was definitely worried that ICE would take advantage of crowds gathering for the matches to perform further immigration enforcement.

But, so far, that has not been the case. Instead, many people in his hometown of Watts have been consumed with “World Cup fever,” calling out of work to attend watch parties at local bars and walking down the streets with eyes glued to a livestream of a game on a phone, he said.

While joy was the overriding mood among soccer fans gathered in Inglewood on Monday, the day was not entirely free of tension or pangs of grief for the people who were missing out on the fun.

James Carling, 63, of Ventura said it pains him to know that many fans from countries such as Iran, Haiti and Senegal are unable to attend the matches because of the Trump administration’s travel restrictions.

“Let’s face it, our government hasn’t made it easy for people to visit us, which is a shame,” he said outside the stadium. “There were people from countries whose teams made it [to the World Cup] who were not allowed to come and, sorry, that’s wrong.”

The shadow of the U.S. war with Iran and the anger many Iranian Americans feel over Iran’s current government were also present in Inglewood on Monday. Outside the stadium, some Iranian soccer fans had heated encounters with protesters who felt that supporting the Iranian national team was synonymous with supporting an oppressive regime.

Yet the atmosphere among the Iranians attending Monday night’s game was one of cathartic celebration, where for a few hours they could set aside geopolitical tensions and unite over the simple love of soccer.

In the stadium parking lot, David Arias, a Mexican American resident of Inglewood, gave a fist bump to Kam Pirouz, an Iranian fan who had traveled from Washington, D.C., to see the game.

Mexico and Iran are “homies right now,” Arias said, referencing the fact that the Iranian players are commuting to the Los Angeles games from Tijuana because of restrictions placed on them by the Trump administration.

Fans watch the World Cup group stage match between Iran and New Zealand at SoFi Stadium on Monday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos/Los Angeles Times)

Although Arias did not have tickets to the match, he said he could not resist the chance to meet people from all over the world. So he decided to take his local barbershop to the parking lot outside the stadium and offer free haircuts to fans.

With an hour to go before Monday night’s game, all three seats at his pop-up shop were occupied; Pirouz, the Iranian fan, was getting a fresh fade while seated next to a Mormon missionary from Utah and an Egyptian fan.

“It’s the World Cup, man, the entire world comes together, and it’s beautiful,” Pirouz said mid-haircut. “Best sport in the world.”

Times staff writer Seamus Bozeman contributed to this report.

The Manchester City striker scored his first goals at a major international tournament as Norway powered past Iraq.

Erling Haaland scored twice in his World Cup debut as Norway powered past Iraq to win 4-1 in their Group I opener in Boston.

The Manchester City striker scored his first goals at a major international tournament on Tuesday as Norway returned to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

Haaland turned in from close range to give Norway the lead on 29 minutes, but Aymen Hussein’s header brought Iraq level.

Haaland then pounced on an error at the back to put Norway ahead again before half-time and take his goal tally at international level to 57 in just 51 matches.

Leo Ostigard headed in a third for Norway moments after coming off the bench to effectively wrap up the victory. Norway then got a fourth deep into stoppage time through a Hussein own goal.

The win left Norway on top of Group I on goal difference, level with France on three points after Les Bleus overcame Senegal 3-1 earlier in the day. The Norwegians face the African powerhouses in their next game in New Jersey on June 22 .

No team has endured a longer or more perilous road to the World Cup than Iraq, who secured their place as the 48th and final qualifiers in March after a 21-match campaign that stretched across 867 days.

Hussein, the scorer of the decisive goal in the play-off win over Bolivia, was held and questioned for hours by US immigration officials after arriving with the squad ahead of Iraq’s first World Cup since 1986.

Norway’s impressive return

Norway last played at the tournament in 1998, when coach Stale Solbakken was a member of the squad that famously beat Brazil in the group stage before exiting in the last 16. He also featured at Euro 2000.

After breezing impressively through qualifying, twice thrashing Italy, they are hoping a golden generation of players – led by Haaland and Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard – can break new ground in North America.

Solbakken predicted that Haaland would make a “very big impact” at his first major finals, and the Manchester City star was quick to deliver on that promise.

Antonio Nusa’s trickery was a problem for Iraq, and his incisive pass released the overlapping David Moller Wolfe clear before Haaland stretched to steer in the low cross from the left.

Iraq, who lost all of their group games in their only previous appearance, did not let that get to them as they equalised 10 minutes later.

Amir Alammari found space just inside the area and clipped in a cross, with Hussein rising brilliantly to power a header past Orjan Nyland.

But Iraq only had themselves to blame as they gift-wrapped Haaland’s second of the contest.

Goalkeeper Jalal Hassan was slow to react to a softly hit back pass, his attempted clearance smacking off Haaland’s shin and ricocheting into the net.

Iraq again responded well with Ibrahim Bayesh denied by a desperation block, Ali Alhamadi dribbling an effort wide, and centre-back Akam Hashim lashing a spectacular volley just over the bar.

Ostigard nodded in Odegaard’s corner on 76 minutes to seal the points for Norway, before Haaland was thwarted by Hassan when another loose pass sent him clean through and seeking his hat-trick.

Haaland, nonetheless, had a hand in Norway’s late fourth, his looping header back across goal deflecting off Hussein before trickling over the line.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino praised Iran’s players during a World Cup dressing room visit after the team’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand on Monday.

Gaza’s football fans once watched the World Cup from the comfort of their homes. Now, displaced in schools and tents, they face power cuts, sparse internet access and the threat of Israeli attacks.

The World Cup on Tuesday features tournament heavyweights Argentina and France, who are beginning their campaigns.

France, the 2018 World Cup winners, take on Senegal in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in a repeat of their famous opener in the 2002 edition while Lionel Messi’s reigning champions Argentina face Algeria in Kansas City, Missouri. In Tuesday’s other matches, Norway return to the World Cup for the first time in 28 years against Iraq, and Austria meet Jordan in the day’s final fixture.

Away from the games, Cape Verde are still celebrating their historic draw with Spain while Iraq’s return to the tournament has sparked both happiness and frustration among their supporters.

Here’s what to watch on Day 6 of the World Cup:

What is the schedule for Tuesday?

Four more teams begin their campaigns on Tuesday.

France vs Senegal at New York New Jersey Stadium is scheduled to kick off at 3pm (19:00 GMT).

Later, Norway return to the World Cup for the first time since 1998 when they take on Iraq at Boston Stadium in Massachusetts with kickoff at 6pm (22:00 GMT).

And Argentina will also play against Algeria at Kansas City Stadium at 8pm (01:00 GMT on Wednesday) before Austria meet Jordan at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium in California at 9pm (04:00 GMT on Wednesday).

What are the predictions for France vs Senegal?

France head into the tournament as one of the favourites, sitting third in FIFA’s world rankings. But African powerhouse Senegal, ranked 16th, are expected to provide a stern early test in their opening match.

The teams’ only previous World Cup meeting came in the opening match of the 2002 tournament when tournament debutants Senegal stunned defending champions France 1-0. Papa Bouba Diop’s memorable winner sparked celebrations across Dakar, and then-President Abdoulaye Wade declared a national holiday. Senegal went on to reach the quarterfinals while France exited without winning a game.

Opta’s supercomputer still gives France a clear edge at New York New Jersey Stadium, assigning Les Bleus a 64.8 percent chance of victory. Senegal’s chances of pulling off another upset stand at 14.9 percent while the probability of a draw is put at 20.3 percent.

What are the predictions for Iraq vs Norway?

Tuesday’s Group I clash will be the first meeting between Iraq and Norway, and it will be the Nordic country’s first World Cup match against a team from the Asian Football Confederation.

Norway have relished their return to the World Cup after a long hiatus from the tournament. Fans have drawn attention with their synchronised “Viking row” celebrations while Erling Haaland shared a Viking-themed team photo on social media, describing the tournament as “a dream 28 years in the making”. Led by Haaland and Martin Odegaard, the Norwegians arrive with high hopes.

Opta’s supercomputer expects Norway to start strongly, giving them a 77.4 percent chance of victory. A draw is rated at 14 percent while Iraq have an 8.6 percent chance of pulling off an upset.

What are the predictions for Argentina vs Algeria?

Argentina and Algeria have never faced each other at the World Cup although they did meet in a friendly in 2007 when Argentina came from behind to secure a thrilling 4-3 win at Barcelona’s Camp Nou. A teenager by the name of Lionel Messi scored the first two goals of his international career that day.

History also favours the South Americans. Argentina have won each of their last six World Cup matches against African opponents, rebounding from their shock 1-0 defeat to Cameroon in 1990. Algeria, meanwhile, have enjoyed mixed fortunes against South American sides at the tournament, beating Chile in 1982 before losing to Brazil four years later.

Opta’s supercomputer expects Argentina to make a winning start in Group J. After 25,000 simulations, Lionel Scaloni’s side emerged victorious 68.2 percent of the time. Algeria were given a 13.2 percent chance of causing an upset while a draw was the outcome in 18.6 percent of the projections.

What are the predictions for Austria vs Jordan?

Austria enter the match as the clear favourites on paper. Ranked 25th in the world, they sit 39 places above Jordan, who are 64th in FIFA’s standings, and the Europeans are widely expected to challenge for a place in the knockout rounds.

Opta’s supercomputer strongly backs Austria to open their campaign with a victory in San Francisco, giving them a 70.3 percent chance of taking all three points. Jordan have been assigned a 12.9 percent probability of pulling off an upset while the likelihood of a draw stands at 16.9 percent.

Looking beyond this match, Austria are considered Argentina’s main challengers in Group J. They have an 18 percent chance of finishing top of the group, compared with just 2.9 percent for Jordan.

What else is shaping the World Cup?

Cape Verde celebrate historic point

Cape Verde’s 0-0 draw with Spain led to wild celebrations among fans, including in Boston, home to a large Cape Verdean community. Supporters said they were proud to see their country shine on the World Cup stage.

“Everyone thought Spain would beat us,” one fan said. “We’re a small country, but we have a big heart.”

According to a report on the NBC TV network, goalkeeper Vozinha also became an overnight social media sensation with his Instagram following soaring after the game. NBC said the goalkeeper went from 50,000 followers on Instagram to 4.9 million.

Saudi Arabia deny Uruguay victory

Saudi Arabia looked set for another famous World Cup upset after Abdulelah Alamri gave the Green Falcons the lead against Uruguay, four years on from their shock win over Argentina.

But Uruguay’s Maximiliano Araujo struck 10 minutes from time to earn Uruguay a 1-1 draw. Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Alowais then made several key saves to preserve the point, leaving Group H finely balanced after the opening round of matches.

Tunisia sack coach after heavy defeat

Tunisia have dismissed Sabri Lamouchi after their 5-1 loss to Sweden in their World Cup opener. Mondher Kebaier is set to take over on an interim basis as Tunisia try to revive their campaign before matches against Japan and the Netherlands.

Meet Merlin, Mexico’s unlikely mascot

A duck named Merlin became one of the World Cup’s first viral stars after appearing in Mexico City celebrations dressed in the national team’s colours. Fans on social media called the two-year-old a “national treasure” and even called for him to attend matches as the tournament’s unofficial mascot.

Norway embrace their Viking roots

Norway have brought Viking fever to the tournament. Fans have debuted a synchronised “Viking row” celebration in the stands while the team posed for a Viking-themed photoshoot that sparked both excitement and debate back home. The images, shared by Erling Haaland, have become one of the tournament’s early talking points.

FIFA clears VAR official Shaun Evans

FIFA said it found “no evidence” to support allegations that video assistant referee Shaun Evans breached its disciplinary code after he was accused of making a white supremacist hand gesture during Germany’s World Cup opener against Curacao. Evans, an Australian, said the gesture was an involuntary movement and denied any intent to communicate a racist message.

For many Iraqis, qualifying for the World Cup has brought a rare moment of joy after decades of conflict and hardship.

Fans said the team’s return to football’s biggest stage after more than 40 years offers people a chance to unite and move away, even briefly, from the tensions in the region.

“We haven’t felt this happy in a long time,” Ahmed Salman, an Iraqi fan, told Al Jazeera.

“This is a chance for people to come together and move away from the atmosphere of war, especially given the tense situation in the region.”

But the celebrations have also been mixed with frustration over restrictions that some said have prevented Iraqi supporters from attending the tournament in the United States.

“Banning the fans is a very negative step because sports have nothing to do with politics,” Salman said. “People are coming to celebrate.”

Another Iraq supporter described the emotions as bittersweet.

“As Iraqis, after more than 40 years, we have qualified for the World Cup,” Taha Mohamed said. “It brings a feeling of joy and comfort, … but regarding the fans, it is frustrating.”

WASHINGTON — While millions of soccer fans cheer or groan over World Cup matches spanning North America, health officials are on high alert for germs.

A heat wave may be the most obvious health threat. But infectious diseases can spread in a crowd, and experts are scrutinizing wastewater, hospital visits, even social media for any signs that an outbreak might be brewing.

Measles, one of the most contagious diseases, is among the top concerns, sparking a warning this week from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO. With a nearly six-week stretch of packed stadiums, bars and tourist sites in 16 cities, officials are on the lookout for a long list of infections, from the stomach bug norovirus to mosquito-borne dengue fever.

“This is truly a marathon,” said Palak Raval-Nelson, Philadelphia’s health commissioner.

The mass gatherings come at a tense moment for budget-strapped health agencies in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hit hard by Trump administration staffing cuts, already was grappling with a growing Ebola outbreak in central Africa and a cruise ship hantavirus outbreak. While CDC officials have advised state and local health departments behind the scenes, it’s expected World Cup disease surveillance dashboard still was “in final development” days before games began, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

“Our public health professionals are pretty stretched,” said global health specialist Rebecca Katz of Georgetown University, who is leading an unusual new hub to help.

At the Health Security Operations Center, a joint effort between Georgetown and MedStar Health, workers are analyzing data from around the country so they can alert health authorities, even emergency rooms, to any early signs of trouble. The center is issuing daily “situation reports” about disease trends around World Cup host cities and team base camps to several hundred local and federal public health groups, emergency management and hospital officials and others who’ve signed up.

“It’s important that we don’t become alarmist,” said MedStar emergency medicine specialist Dr. Shane Kappler. “We’re trying to be the insurance policy.”

Measles is a top concern for potential World Cup spread

Already more than 2,000 people in the U.S. have come down with measles this year, nearly as many as during all of last year, according to the CDC. Patients can spread measles before the rash appears and they realize they’re sick. Not too long ago, the U.S. seldom saw measles except from international travel by unvaccinated people.

Now with frequent U.S. outbreaks, “actually a lot of our international partners are worried about measles being exported to them after the games,” said Georgetown’s Katz.

Measles is spreading in Canada, too, and has exceeded 11,000 cases in Mexico, according to PAHO. It’s urging soccer fans to be sure they’re vaccinated, with a health campaign saying a single measles patient can spread the virus to up to 18 unprotected people.

Is Ebola a concern at the World Cup?

Brown University’s Dr. Craig Spencer, who survived Ebola while working in the West Africa outbreak over a decade ago, said he’s repeatedly asked about the risk of Ebola during the World Cup — but “for me, Ebola is not the No. 1 or No. 2 or even No. 3 threat.”

“I am concerned about importation of measles, I am much more concerned about the importation of other infectious threats that may not seem as scary to us as Ebola,” Spencer said.

Many health experts agree that the risk of Ebola spreading in the U.S. is very low. That’s partly because of government travel screenings and restrictions on people recently in outbreak-affected areas. Moreover, Ebola spreads by contact with bodily fluids from someone showing symptoms, not through the air like measles or respiratory viruses.

“One fortunate thing about this virus is you’re most contagious when you’re really quite ill. It’s not like COVID, where you could be sitting next to someone who doesn’t even know they’re infected and perhaps contract the virus,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of Brown’s Pandemic Center.

How to spot brewing diseases

There’s precedent for germs invading major sporting events. Canadian scientists linked a community measles outbreak to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and clusters of norovirus had to be contained during the Olympics this year in Milan and in 2018 in South Korea.

One way to detect signs of trouble: People with certain viral or bacterial infections shed genetic material that sophisticated testing of wastewater can spot. For example, measles can appear in wastewater days before an emergency room sees its first patients.

A recent surveillance reports from Katz’s center note that wastewater testing recently found diarrhea-causing rotavirus, hepatitis A and norovirus in some parts of the U.S., something to watch as soccer crowds arrive.

In Dallas, officials ramped up wastewater screening including at the international airport, casting a wide net rather than looking for specific illnesses, said Dr. Phil Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services.

His team also is enhancing the usual mosquito testing, checking not just for West Nile virus that regularly spreads in the U.S. but for viruses more common in other countries like dengue and chikungunya.

Public health officials have been preparing for months, said Philadelphia’s Raval-Nelson, including with mock emergency drills and communications with counterparts around the country.

“I don’t want to send a message that there’s one key thing,” she said. “We have the frameworks in place to carry out what we need to.”

Neergaard writes for the Associated Press.

SEATTLE — If a pregnant Nigerian woman had been allowed to board a plane 25 years ago, the U.S. team’s path through this summer’s World Cup may have unfolded much differently. Instead, a gate agent turned her away, insisting it wasn’t safe for her to fly from New York to London.

So Florence Balogun returned to Brooklyn, where she had been visiting relatives, and waited for her second son to be born. And when Folarin arrived a few weeks later, entering the world just hours before Independence Day dawned, he did so as an American citizen.

It was that quirk of fate that allowed Balogun, who lived just two months in the U.S., to represent the country on soccer’s biggest stage.

“I’m extremely proud my individual journey will come full circle now,” he said before the tournament started. “Especially the World Cup being here, the opportunity to represent my nation. It’s going to be something special for me.”

The first game certainly was, with Balogun scoring twice in the first half of a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay, becoming the first American with multiple goals in a World Cup game in 96 years while introducing himself to a country that may have known his name, but not his unique talent.

“If you don’t know the type of player he is, you could see it today,” midfielder Weston McKennie said. “It’s the World Cup, everyone steps up to their maximum. In the past a lot of people maybe have not made him out to be a player like that.

“He showed everyone he’s willing to do the dirty work as well.”

Balogun once had his pick of countries to represent. His birth in Brooklyn made him eligible to play for the U.S., his longterm residency in London made him eligible to play for England and his parents’ nationality qualified him to play for Nigeria.

He picked the U.S.

And he’s not the only one on the American team who had a choice. Half the men on the World Cup roster — including Christian Pulisic, Gio Reyna and Malik Tillman, who each had a goal or an assist against Paraguay — are dual nationals, meaning they’re playing for the U.S. because they want to, not because they have to.

“You’re more American if you were not born over there because you had the choice to choose and you chose America,” Kenneth Dest, the Surinamese-American father of Dutch-born defender Sergiño Dest, said in an HBO Max documentary.

If America is a nation of immigrants, it only seems right that it should be represented in the World Cup by a team of immigrants. Like Tillman and Dest, who were born and raised in Europe, the sons of U.S. soldiers. Or forwards Tim Weah, the Brooklyn-born son of the former president of Liberia, and Alejandro Zendejas, who was born in Mexico but became a U.S. citizen at 13 after his father was naturalized.

U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, right, celebrates his goal with Sergiño Dest (2) and Chris Richards (3) against Paraguay.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The paternal great-grandmother of goalie Matt Turner fled religious persecution in Lithuania, with his Jewish ancestors changing their family name from Turnovski to Turner when they arrived at Ellis Island. The parents of midfielder Cristian Roldan came to the U.S. to escape civil wars in Central America, his father from Guatemala and his mother from El Salvador.

They didn’t wind up wearing the same uniform by accident, however. The recruitment of dual nationals dates to the 1980s under Hungarian-born manager Bob Gansler, who qualified the U.S. for the World Cup for the first time in 40 years with a team that included players born in Uruguay, Greece, Germany and El Salvador.

It really began to scale up about 15 years ago under Bob Bradley and his successor Jurgen Klinsmann. Gregg Berhalter then took it to another level, recruiting more than a dozen dual nationals — including Dest, Tillman, Balogun and Turner — in his five years as coach.

The practice isn’t limited to the USMNT. When France won the World Cup in 2018, 16 of the 23 players on the team came from families that recently immigrated from places like Zaire, Cameroon, Morocco, Angola, Congo or Algeria. More than half the players on Algeria’s team in this summer’s tournament were born in Europe while only seven men on Morocco’s roster are from Morocco.

Even Japan, famously homogeneous, has a Black goalkeeper who was born in Arkansas to a father from Ghana.

“Inclusion always pulls sport forward,” said Ronen Dorfan, a journalist and sports historian based in Budapest.

Still, Balogun’s journey is unusual — and not just because of the way it started.

He was two months old when he and his mother finally made it to London and eight years later he was good enough to enter Arsenal’s academy system. He made his junior international debut with England at 17, then three months later was invited to play four games for the U.S. U18 team.

But Balogun’s future appeared to be with England, especially after he scored seven times in 13 appearances with the U21 team, then followed that up with a career-high 21 goals for Reims in France’s Ligue 1 in 2022-23.

Yet neither performance earned him a call-up to a senior national team that was deep at forward.

So the U.S., which desperately needed a fast, technical, two-footed No. 9, pounced, getting Balogun to withdraw from England’s U21 training camp to make a secret visit to Florida. Once there, U.S. Soccer arranged for him to sit courtside at an NBA game, receive VIP passes to Universal Orlando, attend spring training with the Yankees and meet with a number of U.S. national team players.

With a schedule like this, his visit didn’t stay secret for long. After studying pictures Balogun had posted on social media, some U.S. fans determined he was in Orlando and began peppering his feeds with American flag emojis. Others found him at his hotel and urged him to commit to the U.S., a plea his parents, citing a quirk in fate, had been making for years.

You’re American, they argued. You were born there.

Six weeks later he did commit, with FIFA approving his request to switch allegiances from England to the U.S. A month after that, he scored his first senior international goal in the 2023 Nations League Finals and he’s never looked back. Because if Balogun, 24, felt overlooked in England, he’s felt looked after in the colonies.

“When I committed and throughout this whole cycle and the whole journey to me being at this point, I’ve always said the fans gave me so much motivation, showed me so much support,” said Balogun, who speaks in a pronounced London accent. “The most important thing has been to repay that.

“I just want to continue to show the fans I made the right decision. I want to continue to make the fans proud as well.”

He made a great start on that in his World Cup debut.

The World Cup group stage continues on Monday, with four more matches taking place across the United States.

Spain begin their campaign against World Cup newcomers Cape Verde, Belgium face Egypt in what could be one of the day’s closest games, Saudi Arabia take on Uruguay in Miami, and Iran meet New Zealand in Los Angeles.

Away from the football, Uruguay’s disrupted travel plans, divisions within Los Angeles’s Iranian American community before Iran’s opener, and Haiti’s inspiring return to the World Cup are all drawing attention beyond the pitch.

Here is what to know:

What’s the World Cup schedule on June 15?

Spain take on Cape Verde at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta, with kickoff scheduled for 12pm local time (16:00 GMT).

Belgium face Egypt at Seattle Stadium in Seattle at the same time, with the Group G rivals also getting under way at 12pm local time (19:00 GMT).

Later, Saudi Arabia meet Uruguay at Miami Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. That match starts at 6pm local time (22:00 GMT).

The day’s final fixture sees Iran face New Zealand at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California. Kickoff is at 6pm local time (01:00 GMT on June 16).

What do the predictions say for  Spain vs Cape Verde?

Spain are the clear favourites to win, but Cape Verde have already made history by reaching the World Cup for the first time.

The teams have never played each other. Spain’s last two World Cup matches against African opponents came against Morocco, drawing 2-2 in 2018 before losing on penalties after a 0-0 draw in the 2022 quarterfinals.

Opta’s predictions strongly favour Spain. After running 25,000 simulations, the statistics company gave Spain an 87.2 percent chance of winning the Group H opener. A draw was predicted in 8.1 percent of the outcomes, while Cape Verde were given a 4.8 percent chance of causing an upset.

Only one African team has ever beaten Spain at a World Cup: Nigeria, who won 3-2 in the group stage in 1998.

What do the predictions say for Belgium vs Egypt?

This one could be much closer than many people expect.

Opta’s predictions suggest there is very little separating the sides. In 25,000 match simulations, Belgium won 37.2 percent of the time, while Egypt came out on top in 35.5 percent. A draw happened in 27.3 percent of the simulations.

Belgium are slight favourites. It could end up being one of the closest games of the day, with a single goal potentially making the difference.

Belgium face pressure to avoid repeating their performance in 2022 in Qatar, when they did not advance beyond the group stage. The Belgians finished third in 2018 in Russia.

What do the predictions say for Saudi Arabia vs Uruguay?

Saudi Arabia and Uruguay have met only once before at a World Cup. Uruguay won that match 1-0 in 2018.

The teams have also faced each other in a friendly match. That game, played in Saudi Arabia in 2014, ended in a 1-1 draw.

The predictions favour Uruguay. In 25,000 simulations run by Opta, Uruguay won 64.7 percent of the time. Saudi Arabia won 13.9 percent of the simulations, while 21.4 percent ended in a draw.

What do the predictions say for Iran vs New Zealand?

Iran and New Zealand have only played each other twice before, and this will be their first meeting in a competitive match.

Their first game ended in a 0-0 draw in New Zealand in 1973. Thirty years later, Iran won 3-0 in Tehran, with Ali Karimi scoring twice before Hossein Kaebi added a third goal.

The predictions give Iran the edge. In 25,000 simulations run by Opta, Iran won 53.8 percent of the time. New Zealand won 20.4 percent of the simulations, while 25.8 percent ended in a draw.

What else is shaping the World Cup?

Uruguay’s travel plans hit by delays before World Cup opener

Uruguay’s preparations for their World Cup opener have been disrupted after travel problems delayed the team’s arrival in the US.

The squad had been due to fly from Cancun, Mexico, before Monday’s Group D match against Saudi Arabia in Miami. However, reports in Uruguay said the charter flight was not cleared to enter the US, forcing the team to make alternative arrangements.

The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) said the delay was outside its control. A replacement plane was eventually organised, with the team expected to reach South Florida only about a day before kickoff.

“Due to problems beyond the control of the AUF, the departure from Mexico has been delayed,” the association said in a statement. “The squad is resting at the hotel. The new departure time set by FIFA is 4:15pm [21:15 GMT].”

Japan fans continue World Cup cleanup tradition after Netherlands draw

The blue bags Japanese fans waved while celebrating their team’s goals, and then stayed behind for something else after the match ended.

Following Japan’s 2-2 draw with the Netherlands, supporters stayed behind to collect rubbish from the stands before leaving the stadium, continuing a tradition that has become a familiar part of the World Cup.

The cleanup effort first caught global attention at the 1998 tournament in France, and Japanese fans have kept it going at every World Cup since.

Iranian Americans divided over Team Melli

As Iran prepare to begin their World Cup campaign in Los Angeles, members of the Iranian American community in Westwood, or “Tehrangeles”, remain split over how to respond.

While some opposition activists plan protests against the team, others are setting politics aside to support the football. Business owner Roozbeh Farahanipour told Al Jazeera’s reporter Ali Harb that “the community is divided” and there is no consensus on whether to boo the national team or back the US-Israel war against Iran.

Trudeau defends attending US match instead of Canada’s opener

Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the US World Cup opener against Paraguay in California instead of Canada’s game against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto.

Trudeau said he chose to be at the game in Inglewood because his girlfriend, singer Katy Perry, was performing in the pre-match show at SoFi Stadium.

“Sometimes supportive boyfriend duties call. But you know who I’m rooting for to take the Cup,” he wrote on X.

Canada’s opener in Toronto and the US match in Los Angeles were played just hours apart, prompting some fans to question why the former prime minister was not supporting the home team.

Trudeau served as Canada’s prime minister from 2015 to 2025.

After returning to the World Cup for the first time since 1974, Haiti’s campaign has given people a rare reason to celebrate.

For Olivier Woodensky Pierre, the World Cup is a dream come true. He is the only player in Haiti’s squad who still lives in the country. Born in Cite Soleil, one of the poorest areas in the capital, Port-au-Prince, Pierre hopes the team’s achievement will inspire young people back home.

“Every player always wishes to play in the World Cup. That was my dream. That’s why I’m fighting to be here. I got the chance to be selected to play in the World Cup. I am advising the youth not to be discouraged. Keep fighting, work, and be disciplined,” Pierre told Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo.

Haiti’s qualification has brought a sense of hope to a country going through one of the most difficult periods in its recent history. Gangs control large parts of the capital, violence has displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and many Haitians have taken to the streets to demand peace while also celebrating the team’s return to football’s biggest stage.

The journey to the World Cup was far from straightforward. Because of the ongoing political crisis, Haiti had to play its home qualifiers abroad. There was also a lack of funding.

“It was really difficult before because there were no sponsors to finance the team. You know, since we qualified for the World Cup, FIFA provided money for preparation, and the government provided $4m that were crucial to help us prepare,” Thecieux Jeanty of the Haitian Football Federation told Al Jazeera.

Pastor Winston Noel also voiced disappointment over US visa restrictions affecting Haitians.

“FIFA must talk to the Trump administration to tell them that this cannot be the case because it is the World Cup. All countries that qualify must have their fans to come and support their teams,” he said.

“The World Cup is something special for us Haitians. Many children here in Haiti will participate in the World Cup, even though this generation doesn’t know the names of all the players. But we are very happy because it’s a great achievement for us,” Noel said.

Haiti eventually opened their World Cup campaign with a 2-0 defeat to Scotland, but for many supporters the tournament is about more than results. It remains a rare moment of pride, unity and hope for a country that has endured years of hardship.

The U.S. men’s soccer team isn’t only trying to win games in this World Cup. It is trying to win hearts and minds as well.

“We want the game to grow,” star midfielder Christian Pulisic said. “We want to get Americans excited to watch this game, to watch our team. That’s obviously a big goal of ours. And being successful would give that the best boost.”

The Americans certainly got a great start Friday, opening the second World Cup played on U.S. soil with a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay. It was one of the most complete performances the American men have had on the sport’s biggest stage, with Folarin Balogun scoring twice, Pulisic setting up two goals, and just one momentary lapse on defense separating goalkeeper Matt Freese from a shutout.

The U.S. passed well, defended well and, most important, was clinical and dangerous in front of the net, finishing well.

U.S. midfielder Giovanni celebrates with Antonee Robinson and Sebastian Berhalter after scoring against Paraguay.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

“It was a real statement,” Balogun said. “And that’s what we wanted. I’m very delighted with the overall performance.”

The effort was warmly received by a sold-out crowd of 70,492 at SoFi Stadium, with record-setting crowds watching on TV throughout the country.

Fox Sports announced 15.99 million watched the win, making it the most-viewed U.S. World Cup match on English-language television.

And the Spanish-language broadcast drew a total audience of 8.9 million across Telemundo, Peacock and Telemundo’s streaming platforms. It was the most-watched U.S. World Cup match on Spanish-language television network platforms, harking back to the 1994 World Cup, the first played in the U.S. that also attracted record TV audiences.

At 38, captain Tim Ream is the only member of the team who was alive in 1994, but he and his younger teammates repeatedly have been reminded of the impact that tournament had on soccer in the U.S. That 1994 team won just one game, though, scored just two goals and didn’t make it past the round of 16.

This team is convinced it can do better — on and off the field.

Fans cheer after U.S. beat Paraguay to open the World Cup Friday at SoFi Stadium.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

“It’s trying to be an inspiration for the next generation and grow the game,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “I think we have the opportunity to do that.”

Part of that is kick-starting the kind of interest in soccer that briefly swept the country during the first U.S. World Cup 32 years ago. And this team certainly energized fans Friday.

“Having this crowd around us, seeing the red, white and blue, it’s awesome,” Pulisic said. “It’s really pushing us forward. We just hope it continues like that.”

It will if Pulisic and Co. continue playing like that.

The U.S. controlled the ball for nearly an hour of the 90 minutes, completed more than twice as many passes as Paraguay and took almost twice as many shots. It was a game that was as attractive and inviting as it was one-sided, one that might turn the most skeptical viewer into a fan.

It was, midfielder Weston McKennie said, the kind of game that could push the U.S. closer to becoming a proper soccer nation.

American midfielder Weston McKennie outruns two Paraguay defenders.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

“Because it’s a World Cup and it’s in America, people came out,” McKennie said. “We’re OK with that. There’s a lot of people that maybe have never come out to support us. But hopefully today, with this performance, they can connect with us.

“You feel this electricity in the stadium and the passion. That’s one thing that’s going to change soccer here.”

Pulisic and McKennie helped put the U.S. in front to stay in the seventh minute, although the goal was credited to Paraguayan midfielder Damián Bobadilla, who got his right foot in front of a McKennie pass intended for Balogun and deflected it into the net for an own goal. Pulisic made the whole sequence happen, however, pushing the ball between a pair of defenders before poking it on to McKennie in the center of the box.

Balogun scored twice in the final 20 minutes of the first half, one-timing a perfect pass from Pulisic in from the penalty spot in the 31st minute, then running on to a perfectly weighted through ball from Malik Tillman and avoiding two defenders to line a left-footed shot into the top left corner five minutes into stoppage time.

The brace was the first of Balogun’s international career and came in his World Cup debut before a crowd of family and friends, a cheering section he saluted from behind the goal line after scoring.

“I had to sort through a lot of ticket [requests.] It’s a dream night, you know? I’ve not been able to take it all in,” said Balogun, whose brace marked the first multigoal game by an American in the World Cup since 1930.

And that wasn’t the only history the U.S. made Friday. Defender Chris Richards, whose status for the opener was in doubt after he tore two ligaments in his left ankle a month ago, completed all 83 of his passes, the most without a miss in a World Cup game since 1966.

Mauricio pulled one of those goals back for Paraguay in the 73rd minute, before Gio Reyna closed the scoring with his first World Cup goal deep in stoppage time.

Pulisic, who said he took a kick to his left calf in the first half, was replaced by Sebastian Berhalter to start the second. Pulisic showed no signs of injury while talking with reporters after the match, and coach Mauricio Pochettino is hopeful the injury will not limit Pulisic during the next match Friday against Australia.

For the U.S., the commanding win over Paraguay was just the start. The best, the players promise, is yet to come.

Fans fill SoFi Stadium during the U.S. World Cup win over Paraguay on Friday.

(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)

“Today was a great starting point for us,” McKennie said. “But we know that’s just a start and this is something we don’t want to over-celebrate. Because we want this to be the normal for us.

“We have two more games to go in the group. Hopefully we improve.”

Added Pulisic: “There’s so much more we want to accomplish.”

And not all of that will take place on the field.

Vinicius Junior scored a brilliant goal to dig Brazil out of trouble after Ismael Saibari had put Morocco ahead.

A moment of magic from Vinicius Junior salvaged Brazil a point against Morocco in New Jersey, as the five-time World Champions made a shaky start to the tournament.

Ismael Saibari ran through to give Morocco a 21st-minute lead with a clever scoop in the Group C opener on Saturday, but a solo effort from Vinicius ensured the points were shared in this much-anticipated group match.

Here are the biggest takeaways from the 1-1 draw at New York New Jersey Stadium.

Brazil make a slow start

Brazil are chasing a record sixth World Cup title, 24 years after last lifting the trophy, but this performance suggests there is a lot of work to be done by Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

They showed signs of nerves during the early stages of the game and struggled to cope with a lively Morocco attack.

A fifth-placed finish in South American qualifying underlined the scale of the challenge facing Ancelotti, and this performance has done little to ease concerns about the quality of the Brazil squad.

A number of their players struggled to cope with the intensity of the Moroccan team, with midfielder Casemiro subbed off at half-time after a difficult opening 45 minutes in the heat.

The World Cup final is a long way off in New Jersey, but Brazil will have to vastly improve if they are to have any hope of making it.

Morocco look like the real deal

The Atlas Lions stunned the world of football in 2022 as they made it all the way to the semifinals in Qatar.

Four years later, Morocco have the chance to show that it was not a one-off run to the last four and they are the real deal.

Judging by their performance in New Jersey on Saturday, the North African nation are truly a force to be reckoned with.

They arrived in North America as African Cup of Nations champions, after being retrospectively awarded the title following a controversial final defeat to Senegal, and they continued their strong form with a commanding performance against Brazil, playing with a high level of confidence and plenty of attacking threat.

Morocco appear set for another strong tournament showing.

Vinicius shows his top quality

If Brazil are to make it to the latter stages of this tournament, they will rely heavily on Vinicius to provide goals and assists in North America.

The Real Madrid man has consistently scored for his club this season, including 16 goals in La Liga and five in the Champions League, and it now appears that he is bringing this form to the world stage.

With Brazil struggling in the first half, Vinicius received the ball from Bruno Guimaraes on the left side of the area before cutting back onto his right foot and hammering into the far corner past Yassine Bounou.

It was the kind of magic moment that he regularly produces for Real Madrid, and the Selecao will be looking for more individual brilliance in their coming games.

Neymar injury hangs over Brazil

The Neymar soap opera is set to dominate another tournament for Brazil, with the 34-year-old on the sidelines for yet another major tournament match.

Brazil’s all-time record goalscorer is still recovering from a calf injury, having not played for his country since 2023.

He was dramatically recalled to the national squad, despite not featuring in Ancelotti’s plans ⁠during the Italian’s year in charge, but he remains under scrutiny over his fitness and form following years of injury trouble and an ⁠underwhelming spell back at Santos.

It is unclear exactly when Neymar will be fit enough to return to first-team action, but judging by the media’s focus on him during Saturday’s match, this saga is set to dominate discussion around Brazil.

Draw leaves Group C wide open

Brazil and Morocco are the clear heavyweights in their group, but Saturday’s draw in New Jersey has left Group C somewhat in the balance.

Scotland currently sit top of the table after a 1-0 victory over Haiti in Boston, and they will now be eyeing the chance to reach the knockout stages for the first time in their history.

Morocco and Brazil remain heavy favourites to finish in the top two automatic qualification spots, but Scotland know that any points in their final two group games will almost certainly book their spot in the round of 32.

The U.S. men’s soccer team chose an incredible day to have an incredible day.

Crucially, the United States aced its only chance to make a first impression, kicking off this colossal World Cup it’s co-hosting with Mexico and Canada with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay.

Consider it a save for the tournament, three points for soccer in America and maybe even a win for uniting the States.

The Americans on the pitch did all that, including making sure a sellout crowd of 70,492 fans got their money’s worth for their exorbitantly high-priced seats to watch football under Friday Night Lights at SoFi Stadium.

U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, right, celebrates with Sergino Dest and Chris Richards after scoring during a World Cup win over Paraguay on Friday at SoFi Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

It was not a clean sheet. And it wasn’t an elixir for all the issues — visas, tickets, transportation — that ailed the tournament in its buildup.

But the opening statement by the United States confirmed what we thought might be true. Only one thing could save this soccer tournament: soccer.

The U.S. delivered a performance to change the conversation — for the next few weeks and maybe longer.

Making history to alter history.

The United States scored multiple goals in a World Cup first half for the first time since 2002.

It got two of them from Folarin Balogun, the Brooklyn-born, England-raised forward of Nigerian descent who became just the second USMNT player to score two goals in a World Cup game and the first since 1930.

Got a perfect match from Chris Richards, the afro-rocking defender with the long, loping strides, who was 83 for 83 on his passes. That’s better than any player at a World Cup since 1966.

And if possession is nine-tenths of the law of attraction, know that the Americans possessed the ball 71% of the first half, most in the first half of a World Cup game in the modern era.

Landon Donovan, star of the 2002 team that reached the World Cup quarterfinals — a record that still stands — posted on X: “From start to finish, that was the most enjoyable day of soccer I’ve ever experienced.”

That’s the stuff that will get the American people going. Get us invested, get us behind them. That could convert even devout casuals.

Americans love a good underdog story. We also want the best, the finest, the biggest — and this, with its expanded field of 48, is the biggest version of the biggest and best tournament in the world.

And the only thing we love more than winning is dominating. The United States did that Friday against a Paraguayan team that had allowed only 10 goals in 18 World Cup qualifying matches, and whom the United States beat 2-1 in a tense match in November.

Fans cheer during the U.S. win over Paraguay in their World Cup opener Saturday at SoFi Stadium.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

That was Mauricio Pochettino and his players helping us help them.

“The fans, amazing,” said Pochettino, the team’s accomplished Argentine coach. “On behalf of the whole team, a massive thank you to the fans. Because the energy that they [gave] to the team was amazing. We can do amazing things if the fans are in this as well.”

Friday was so good for soccer in America.

And so good for America. The kind of butt-kicking that’s chicken soup for a nation’s soul.

Maybe it’s idealistic and naive, or apple-pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking, but I believe that they can win. (And by win, I mean make the quarterfinals again.)

There’s no removing politics from this World Cup, but wouldn’t it be fun to all rally behind a team together? Can’t you see the country coalescing behind the right wingers and left wingers on the pitch? Picture people celebrating the freedom inherent in Pochettino’s system? Cheering the all-for-one and one-for-all of this team of dual nationals and Americans raised abroad — or in Alabama?

Postmatch, Pochettino refused to single out any one player, instead giving reporters a recitation of his roster: “[Christian Pulisic] was amazing [setting up two goals]. Balogun was amazing, of course. Tim Ream was amazing, of course. Chris Richards was amazing, yes. Weston McKennie, he was amazing, amazing. Antonee Robinson, Alex Freeman, amazing. Sergiño Dest, amazing …”

Like they put it on the @USMNT Instagram account: “Together as Won.”

U.S. soccer, amazing.

The World Cup continues on Saturday, with Brazil beginning their campaign and three more group-stage matches taking place across North America.

Brazil take on Morocco in the day’s biggest match, while Qatar face Switzerland, Haiti meet Scotland and Australia play Turkiye as more teams get their tournaments under way.

Away from the football, there has been plenty to talk about. Donald Trump skipped the United States’ opener, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was at the US game instead of Canada’s, and Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey will miss his team’s first match after Canada denied his visa application.

In Peru, police made headlines after carrying out a drug raid dressed as World Cup mascots.

Here is what to know:

What’s the World Cup schedule on June 13?

Qatar take on Switzerland at BC Place in Vancouver, with kickoff scheduled for 12pm local time (19:00 GMT).

Later, Brazil face Morocco at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Group C clash kicks off at 6pm local time (22:00 GMT).

The day’s action concludes with Haiti meeting Scotland at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Kickoff is set for 8pm local time (01:00 GMT on June 14).

Australia and Turkiye then get Group D under way at Lumen Field in Seattle, with kickoff at 9pm local time (04:00 GMT on June 14).

What do the predictions say for Brazil vs Morocco?

Brazil and Morocco have only faced each other once before at a World Cup, with Brazil winning their 1998 group-stage meeting. Morocco got their revenge in a 2-1 friendly win in 2023.

Brazil have won seven of their eight World Cup matches against African opponents, with their only defeat coming against Cameroon in 2022.

The five-time champions have not lifted the trophy since 2002. Since then, they have usually exited in the quarterfinals, apart from their run to the 2014 semifinals.

Opta’s 25,000 simulations give Brazil a 57.7 percent chance of winning. A draw happened in 23.5 percent of the projections, while Morocco won in 18.8 percent.

The winner could put themselves in a strong position to top Group C.

What do the predictions say for Qatar vs Switzerland?

Qatar and Switzerland have met only once before, with Qatar claiming a 1-0 friendly win in 2018 thanks to a late goal from Akram Afif. Afif is among nine players from that squad still in Qatar’s 2026 World Cup team, while Switzerland have seven survivors from that defeat, including Granit Xhaka and Remo Freuler.

Opta’s 25,000 simulations make Switzerland the clear favourites in this Group B clash, giving them a 76.0 percent chance of victory. Qatar won just 9.1 percent of the projections, while 14.9 percent ended in a draw.

A point would likely be considered a positive result for the Gulf side.

What do the predictions say for Australia vs Turkiye?

Australia and Turkiye have met only twice before, with Turkiye winning both friendlies in 2004. Turkiye have also won all four of their previous World Cup matches against Asian opponents.

Opta’s 10,000 simulations give Turkiye a 55.3 percent chance of victory, compared with 20.5 percent for Australia and 24.1 percent for a draw.

Neither side has a strong record in World Cup openers, however. Turkiye have lost both of their previous first matches, while Australia have lost five of their six opening games.

What do the predictions say for Haiti vs Scotland?

Haiti and Scotland have never faced each other before, making this one of several first-time matchups at the expanded 48-team World Cup. It will also be Haiti’s first-ever game against a team from the British Isles.

Opta’s 25,000 simulations make Scotland clear favourites, giving them a 59.0 percent chance of victory. Haiti won 19.2 percent of the projections, while 21.8 percent ended in a draw.

What else is shaping the World Cup?

The football has only just started, but the World Cup is already making headlines away from the pitch, too.

Trump did not attend the US World Cup opener

The US president did not attend the US men’s national team’s World Cup opener against Paraguay in Los Angeles.

His absence drew attention because Trump has recently attended several high-profile sporting events, including Game 3 of the NBA Finals earlier this week. He is also expected to host a UFC event at the White House on Sunday.

A White House official said Trump instead plans to attend the World Cup final on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The US president called into a USMNT team meeting with some words of support via Andrew Giuliani, the White House’s World Cup task force CEO.

Partey denied entry into Canada

Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey will miss his country’s World Cup opener against Panama after Canada denied his visa application while he awaits trial in the United Kingdom on multiple rape charges, which he denies.

FIFA confirmed on Friday that the 32-year-old would not be permitted to travel from Ghana’s base camp in Smithfield, Rhode Island, to Toronto for Wednesday’s match.

“His visa application has been refused by the Canadian government,” FIFA said in a statement.

“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.”

Trudeau attends the US’s World Cup

As Canada and the US kicked off their World Cup campaigns on the same day, former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in California rather than Toronto.

The 54-year-old did not attend Canada’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina at BMO Field. Instead, he was at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood alongside pop singer Katy Perry, who performed during the pre-match opening ceremony before the US faced Paraguay.

Peruvian officers use World Cup mascot costumes in Lima drug bust

Peruvian police have gone viral after carrying out a drug raid in Lima dressed as World Cup mascots.

Video shared by police showed officers dressed as World Cup mascots breaking through a metal gate with a battering ram before entering the property.

Once inside, they arrested a suspected drug dealer and recovered weapons and bags of what authorities believe were narcotics.

The World Cup may be decided on the pitch, but another competition is already under way off it: Which host city has the best food?

In a report for Al Jazeera, Lou Browne travelled across North America to find out what fans can expect beyond the stadiums.

In Mexico City, taco vendors are hoping the tournament brings more customers. “Well, now the World Cup is coming, and we hope we’ll get customers,” a tortilla cook at El Califa de Leon told Al Jazeera. “I imagine there will be a lot of people, foreigners or locals.”

Philadelphia is proudly backing its famous Philly cheesesteak. Locals say visitors should learn how to order properly. “You want to tell them what kind of cheese you want,” Anthony Rossi, a cook at Geno’s Steaks, explained. “And you say if you want onions, which is ‘wit’ or ‘wit-out’ … Keep it simple.”

Across the border, Toronto is making the case for poutine, the Canadian dish of fries topped with gravy and cheese curds. “Poutine is the … not the best … dish, but poutine is from Canada,” said Lisa Deni, a French tourist.

In Kansas City, barbecue is a point of pride. “This is really good,” diner Camilla Thomas said. “We’ve been enjoying coming here. and bringing people from out of town here and giving them a little taste of Kansas City.”

And in Miami, locals insist the Cuban sandwich is a must-try. “The Cuban sandwich, croquetas, and cafecito are really the way to go,” said Daniel Figueredo, cofounder of Sanguich. “The Cuban sandwich really is the thing you have to have when you come to Miami.”

For fans travelling across North America this summer, the hardest choice may not be picking the World Cup winner, but deciding which host city serves the best food.

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 in a game that was far more one-sided than the score indicated.

The U.S., which needed a big effort to start the tournament, was on the front foot from the start, going in front to stay in the seventh minute — although it was Paraguayan midfielder Damián Bobadilla who got credit for the goal after stepping in front of Balogun and deflecting in a cross from Weston McKennie.

Pulisic, the American star who is under intense pressure to perform in this tournament, set up the goal, pushing the ball between a pair of defenders before poking it on for McKennie in the center of the box. Bobadilla then did the rest, inadvertently sticking his right foot in front of the ball and bouncing it by Paraguayan keeper Orlando Gil.

Balogun appeared to double the lead coming out of the hydration break midway through the opening half, but the goal was negated by an offside call. That only delayed the second goal, however, with Balogun making it 2-0 by one-timing in a perfect feed from Pulisic from the penalty spot in the 31st minute.

Balogun added to the U.S. advantage just before the intermission, running on to a perfectly weighted through ball from Malik Tillman, stepping through a challenge from Omar Alderete entering the penalty area and turning around Paraguayan captain Gustavo Gómez before left-footing a shot into the top left corner to complete his first brace for the national team.

Gil was just a spectator on the play, with no chance to best the save. The goal marked the first time Paraguay had given up three scores in a World Cup game — much less one half — since 2002 and it came at the end of what was arguably the best opening 45 minutes a U.S. team has played in the tournament in decades.

Gio Reyna scored the fourth U.S. goal on the final play of the game.

Pulisic left in favor of Sebastian Berhalter to start the second but the U.S. continued to dominate in every way it was possible to dominate, controlling the ball for nearly 60 of the 90 minutes and completing more than twice as many passes. Paraguay’s first shot on goal didn’t come until the 73rd minute when Mauricio, a halftime substitute, took advantage of a slow-reacting U.S. defense to pull a goal back.

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino also got a solid game out of center back Chris Richards, playing for the first time since tearing two ligaments in his left ankle a month ago.

The Americans will face Australia in the second of three group-stage games next Friday in Seattle, where a draw will all but guarantee them a spot in the round-of-32, something Pulisic said should be just the first objective for this team.

This World Cup is the largest and most ambitious sporting event in history, with three host countries — Canada and Mexico, in addition to the U.S. — and a record 48 teams playing 104 games in 16 cities spread across four time zones. A long run by the American team, playing on home soil, could excite a nation and give soccer the kind of boost it hasn’t seen since 1994, the last time a World Cup was played here.

It could also change the narrative of a tournament whose run-up was clouded by outrageously high ticket prices, travel bans, the threat of ICE raids at tournament venues and the war in the Middle East, the first to pit a World Cup host against a World Cup qualifier.

And the U.S. portion of that tournament opened with pomp despite those circumstances, with Thai pop star Lisa, Nigerian recording artist Rema and Brazilian singer Anitta headlining a 10-minute mini concert staged before a massive replica of the World Cup trophy set over a blue map of the U.S. Katy Perry mounted a stage of her own an hour later to debut her song “Wonder” as the flags of the 48 participating countries circled around her.

President Trump did not attend the game, just as Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum skipped her country’s opener Thursday in Mexico City and prime minister Mark Carney missed Canada’s first game Friday in Toronto. Secretary of State Marco Rubio took Trump’s place in the Hollywood-heavy crowd of 70,492 that packed SoFi Stadium, one which included Tom Cruise, David and Victoria Beckham, Halle Berry, Rob Lowe, Becky G, Jaime Foxx, Paris Hilton, Bill Gates, Justin Trudeau and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

That crowd was a sea of blue and red — the U.S. and Paraguay share the same colors — but the cheering was primarily for the Americans since Paraguay rarely mounted a threat.

Chinese media and think tanks view the United States’ hosting of the FIFA World Cup from a purely geopolitical, economic, and commercial perspective, critically assessing the infrastructure and political climate. Chinese circles see the tournament not merely as a sporting event but as a central tool for the United States to polish its image, bolster its global leadership amidst current international polarization, and advance its political agenda. This perspective is highlighted through several key points, the most important being the geopolitical dimension. Here, Chinese think tanks argue that the tournament reflects the level of competition between major powers, with Washington attempting to use hosting as a soft power tool to project its influence. However, Chinese media, in turn, emphasized the state of sharp international polarization and division, criticizing the political challenges and the wrangling that accompanied the broadcasting negotiations. Furthermore, a number of (commercial considerations) have been raised, with the tournament facing criticism from Chinese media due to its exorbitant cost and the significant time difference between North America and China, leading to a decline in Chinese public interest. This hesitation was reflected in the negotiations, as FIFA incurred financial losses after China Media Group (CMG) signed the broadcasting agreement late and at a price significantly lower than FIFA’s requested.

Regarding the (organizational and policy challenges), Chinese research and media institutions expressed reservations about the tournament’s logistical challenges, particularly the longer travel distances between host cities compared to previous editions, as well as concerns related to US immigration laws and security restrictions. Despite the absence of the Chinese national team from the tournament, China’s commercial involvement was substantial. Beijing demonstrated its active presence through Chinese commercial sponsors, such as Hisense, and sporting goods factories in eastern China, which reaped significant economic benefits from manufacturing tournament flags and souvenirs. Chinese media coverage, particularly through its official channels, was extensive. CGTN, the Chinese state broadcaster, developed comprehensive plans to broadcast and cover the matches, ensuring the event reached millions of Chinese fans across its various platforms.

Furthermore, Chinese state media and intelligence and military think tanks utilized Washington’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup to offer a number of strategic, media, and intellectual analyses regarding China’s calculations in response to American actions. Major events are often used as a primary arena for geopolitical competition between the two superpowers. Beijing’s vision can be summarized by its use of major sporting, cultural, and other events as a political tool. Beijing views Washington’s hosting of major international tournaments or events as more than just sporting or cultural occasions; it sees them as an extension of American information and decision-making strategies aimed at projecting American influence and hegemony globally. While China seeks to highlight international contradictions, Beijing has directed its media apparatus to demonstrate that Washington’s attempts to unilaterally assume leadership or project messages of unity are, in reality, met with sharp division and polarization within the international system. Here, China has attempted to counter American soft power. This media coverage of the FIFA World Cup in the United States reflects a continuous Chinese effort to neutralize Western and American soft power by focusing on structural issues in international relations, such as the absence of multipolarity, and by promoting the Chinese model as an alternative striving for a more balanced world.

In this context, Chinese media and think tanks view the United States’ hosting of the World Cup through the lens of soft power, geopolitical strategies, and trade, while sharply criticizing the infrastructure and political circumstances surrounding the tournament, particularly in the aftermath of the Iran War and a number of global geopolitical upheavals stemming from US policies. Chinese analyses focus on purely commercial interests, criticizing the exorbitant costs of broadcasting rights. Conversely, they highlight the role of leading Chinese companies in profiting from the event by providing innovative and advanced broadcasting technologies and exporting merchandise and fan supplies. However, they also offer several critical observations regarding the infrastructure and political climate. Chinese research centers express critical skepticism about the readiness of US cities, suggesting that complexities related to visa requirements and a strict security and political environment could hinder fans and undermine the freedom of movement necessary for such events.

Based on the preceding understanding and analysis, we can discern the perspective of Chinese media and research centers that the United States exploits hosting international sporting and political events as a prominent tool for employing sports to enhance American soft power, attempting to project influence to manage conflict, and solidifying its leadership of the global order. Therefore, Chinese think tanks and intelligence agencies have developed a comprehensive media and research plan to expose American polarization worldwide. Conversely, Chinese media and think tanks emphasize Washington’s failure to garner international consensus, highlighting the sharp division and widening gap between Western powers and the rising powers of the Global South. This underscores the mechanism of conflict transformation, where competition is no longer limited to the economic and military spheres but has expanded significantly to encompass soft power tools and media discourse. This reflects a picture of expanded strategic competition and its impact on international stability.

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.

Yet even before the competition opened with Mexico facing South Africa at the iconic Estadio Azteca, it has been marred by a number of controversies that threaten to overshadow the soccer and cloud the tournament’s legacy.

“I view this World Cup as the most politically combustible World Cup in recent history. And that’s saying something,” said Jules Boykoff, a political science professor at the University of Portland and author of eight books on the politics of international sport.

“We’re in uncharted territory in many ways.”

Relations between the host countries, once strong, have been strained by the Trump administration’s tariff policies and disagreements over border security. Travel bans have barred potential World Cup visitors — and even support staff and match officials — from entering the U.S. and others are fearful of making the trip, worried about ICE raids and immigration roundups.

The U.S. is at war with a tournament qualifier, Iran. And Iran has fired missiles and drones on Jordan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, nations that also are World Cup participants.

The International Sports Press Assn. said Iranian and African journalists have been denied visas to cover games in the U.S., and Iran protested after more than a dozen members of its support staff had their requests to enter the U.S. rejected. The Iranians, who were forced to move their training base from Tucson to Tijuana, will spend limited time in the U.S. during group-play games that will take place in Inglewood and Seattle.

Players and journalists from Senegal, Uzbekistan and Iraq have been detained at U.S. airports for up to seven hours by immigration officials. Then on Monday, Omar Artan, a decorated referee and the first Somali official selected to work a World Cup, was turned away at Miami International Airport.

In addition, ticket prices have been so high and the lottery process for obtaining them so opaque, the attorneys general of New York and New Jersey have begun formal investigations into FIFA practices. Other states, including California, hosting tournament matches have begun asking questions as well.

All that has conspired to produce a World Cup that is struggling to catch on with the public. According to a recent poll by Yougov.com, a majority of Americans — 54% — say they are not at all interested in the tournament and nearly six in 10 say they will not watch any matches.

“People are just in a bad mood,” Boykoff said. “It’s a tough time.”

FIFA president Gianni Infantino remains optimistic, promising this will be “the biggest, the most inclusive, the greatest FIFA World Cup ever.” He made the same claim about the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 2018 tournament in Russia.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino speaks during a news conference on Wednesday before the start of the World Cup.

(Carl Recine / Getty Images)

“The World Cup should be understood as both a global sporting celebration and a major commercial enterprise, with these two dimensions being mutually enforcing rather than contradictory,” said Steve Georgakis, a lecturer on sports studies at the University of Sydney and a frequent author on soccer.

This year’s tournament is projected to swell FIFA’s coffers by nearly $9 billion and the TV ratings, it says, will be massive.

“Its universal appeal combined with the participation of 48 nations ensures that it remains a genuinely global sporting event,” Georgakis said.

Boykoff has his doubts.

“In this particular political moment, with the Trump administration being erratic and impulsive and needing a win from this tournament and the fact there’s so many moving parts geopolitically, I don’t have confidence that it’s just going to end up being a soccer-focused next five weeks,” he said.

This is not the first World Cup to kick off under some kind of black cloud.

The 1974 tournament in West Germany was tarred by the geopolitical fallout of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Four years later Argentina’s military dictatorship used the World Cup to sportswash a “Dirty War” in which as many as 30,000 people were tortured, murdered and disappeared.

The 2010 and 2014 World Cups were troubled by cost overruns and delays in the construction of stadiums and other infrastructure and the threat of labor unrest while global outrage over human rights violations and discrimination against women and LGBTQ people hung over the last two tournaments.

Those issues never fully disappeared but were overshadowed by the brilliance of the soccer. Jonathan Wilson, a columnist with the Guardian and author of “The Power and the Glory: The History of the World Cup,” expects the same this summer.

“The other stuff will still be there in the background,” he said, “but fundamentally the football will, for the vast majority of people, take over. It’s just sort of a natural cycle.”

Argentina star Lionel Messi controls the ball during an international friendly against Iceland on Tuesday.

(Butch Dill / Associated Press)

And as with every World Cup, there undoubtedly will be unforgettable moments.

Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, the top scorers in soccer history, will be playing in their sixth and final World Cups — Messi chasing a second straight title and Ronaldo pursuing the only prize that has eluded him.

Kylian Mbabbe will be trying to take France to a third consecutive final while young superstars like Erling Haaland of Norway and Lamine Yamal of Spain will be looking to put their mark on their first World Cups.

Four teams — Jordan, Curacao, Cape Verde and Uzbekistan — have qualified for the tournament for the first time.

And there will be other storylines no one saw coming, all of which will contribute to the narrative of this World Cup.

“Major sporting events have a way of capturing public attention and shifting the conversation toward what is happening on the field rather than off it,” Georgakis said.

How much the actions of the Trump administration affect that calculation remains to be seen.

There are travel restrictions in place that fully or partially bar citizens from 39 countries — including a number of World Cup participants — from entering the U.S. And the administration has said ICE and Homeland Security personnel will have a visible presence at World Cup venues, including SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, where the American team will begin play Friday.

“There will be federal agents,” confirmed L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna, who added that he could not guarantee immigration sweeps would not take place. “ They told us that specifically would not be occurring,” he said. “Any of that’s subject to change.”

Mexico fans celebrate during a watch party at Plaza Mexico in Lynwood on Thursday.

(Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)

The difficulty in obtaining visas and the fear of being rounded up by immigration agents are being blamed, in part, for less-than-expected tourist traffic. Hotel operators in all 11 World Cup host cities say bookings for the tournament are well below projections. Several countries have issued warnings about travel to the U.S.

Then there are the own goals from FIFA over tickets and parking prices as high as $900 at some stadiums, weather issues and a short-lived ban on water bottles.

FIFA has defended its policies on ticket prices by arguing that premiums are necessary to maximize revenue, which it will invest in global soccer development. Variable, market-based pricing, it said, simply reflects standard entertainment practices in North America. The organization did, however, reverse its ban on fans bringing bottles into games. Spectators are now allowed to enter stadiums with one soft, plastic 20-ounce water bottle.

And despite a warning from climate scientists that one in four World Cup games could be played in dangerously hot conditions, FIFA will start 40 of them at 3 p.m. or earlier local time, the warmest time of day, to accommodate European TV viewers.

Georgakis said the play on the field will have to overcome all those issues if this World Cup is to earn a favorable place in history.

“Ultimately the success of the World Cup will be judged by what happens on the field,” he said. “If the football is compelling, dramatic and memorable, the tournament will likely be remembered as a great World Cup. If the play falls short, then the off-field issues such as ticket prices, extreme heat, ICE enforcement activities, the Trump administration will receive great attention and could shape perceptions of the event.”

A massive 850-square-meter street mural of football star Neymar da Silva, created by six artists over two days in Brazil’s Novo Hamburgo, is turning heads ahead of the highly anticipated FIFA World Cup.

Krutzsch says the event was designed to be accessible. “It was critical to make sure that there were affordable opportunities for the community and fans of the World Cup, or any of these countries that are participating, to have a place to come be part of these official celebrations,” he says.

Tickets for FIFA Fan Festival are $10 including fees, with free admission for children ages 12 and under when accompanied by a paid adult. (There is a limit of three free child tickets per one adult ticket purchase.)

TikTok content creator Carlos Maciel plays a game at the DoorDash booth during a media preview of the FIFA Fan Festival.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile, reserved club seats and loge boxes are $30 including fees. These premium tickets offer access to shaded lounge areas, enhanced seating, food and beverage offerings and elevated viewing locations overlooking the festival grounds and match screens.

Tickets can be purchased online or at the Coliseum box office on event days when the festival is not sold out. The box office is located at Gate 29. General admission entry will be at Gates 1, 4 and 28.

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 New York Times reported that Artan’s name is similar to that of a man identified as linked to Al Shabab, a group that has been the target of U.S. government sanctions.

“I am very, very disappointed,” Artan told the Times from Istanabul, where he stopped on his way back to Somalia. “I’m just simply a referee who’s trying to live his dream, the biggest dream of my life, to come to the World Cup.”

Safety was purportedly the concern with Artan, whose interrogation was conducted by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“During processing, the traveler underwent additional inspection, a routine part of CBP’s inspection process when officers need to verify information or determine admissibility,” CBP said in a statement. “Following inspection, the traveler, a referee for the FIFA World Cup, was determined to be inadmissible due to vetting concerns and was denied entry.”

Somalia is on the U.S. list of banned countries for immigration, although exceptions can be made. Artan is considered one of the best referees in Africa, having officiated in the Somali national football league championship and at the African Cup of Nations.

“Despite the circumstances, I am in a positive mood and focused on the next challenges in my refereeing career,” Artan said in a statement. “I would like to thank FIFA and [the African federation] for all their support and I promise to keep my refereeing levels up as I concentrate on the future.”

Artan, Africa’s Referee of the Year in 2025, was greeted Wednesday at Aden Adde International Airport in Somalia by government officials and hundreds of well-wishers.

“I want to thank FIFA for supporting me all the way, and for Somali people also,” he told Al Jazeera. “So I am very grateful for FIFA and for CAF also. This is what I have to say.”