INGLEWOOD (CNS) – The United States will face Paraguay Friday evening to open play in the 2026 World Cup in the first of eight games at SoFi Stadium.
“My expectation is tomorrow is going to be a very tough game,” U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said Thursday. “It’s going to be tough because Paraguay not only are competitive and aggressive (but) they have good quality (and) a great coach in Gustavo Alfaro, who is doing a great job and I respect and admire him a lot. It’s going to be very, very difficult.”
The Opta supercomputer gives the Americans a 39.6 percent chance of wining based on 10,000 pre-match simulations, Paraguay a 33.8 percent chance while a tie occurred in 26.6 percent of the simulations.
The United States is 17th in the rankings compiled by FIFA, soccer’s global governing body, while Paraguay is ranked 40th.
The Americans have a three-game winning streak over La Albirroja (The White and Red), including a 2-1 victory in their most recent meeting Nov. 16 in Chester, Pennsylvania. The U.S. leads the series, 5-2-2.
This will be the second time the teams will meet in the World Cup. The Americans defeated Paraguay, 3-0, in a group stage match in the inaugural 1930 tournament, with Bert Patenaude scoring all three goals for the first hat trick in World Cup history.
The U.S. team consists of eight players who play in Major League Soccer, five in England, three each in France and Germany, two each in Italy and the Netherlands and one each in Mexico, Scotland and Spain.
Two players were raised in Los Angeles County. Midfielder Cristian Roldan is an alumnus of El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera. Forward Haji Wright played for the LA Galaxy Academy from 2012-15, then signed with the New York Cosmos, then of the second-tier North American Soccer League, on March 30, 2015, three days after his 17th birthday.
Roldan and Wright are among 13 players on the 2026 U.S. World Cup team that also played on the 2022 team, which reached the round of 16.
Paraguay’s roster consists of seven players who play in Brazil, five players who play in Argentina, three each in England, Major League Soccer and Paraguay and one each in France, Italy, Russia and the United Arab Emirates.
Paraguayan midfielder Andrés Cubas plays alongside American midfielder Sebastian Berhalter with MLS’ Vancouver Whitecaps FC. They have played together in 104 games across all competitions for the Whitecaps.
The United States will be playing in the World Cup for the 12th time. This will be the ninth time in the past 10 tournaments the Americans are in the field. It automatically qualified as one of the three host nations.
Paraguay is playing in the World Cup for the first time since 2010. It qualified by finishing sixth in South American qualifying. The continent was assured six spots in the tournament.
The 6 p.m. Group D match will be televised in English by Fox and in Spanish by Telemundo. The top two teams of each of the 12 four-team groups in the 48-team tournament will advance to the 32-team knockout stage, along with the eight best third-placed teams across all groups.
Free watch parties will be held at the Autry Museum of the American West in Griffith Park, Burton Chace Park in Marina Del Rey, the Carson Event Center, Duarte Sports Park, the Ovation Hollywood shopping center, Pasadena Civic Auditorium Plaza, Plummer Park in West Hollywood, Santa Monica Place, Stephen Sorensen Park in Palmdale and Veterans Memorial Park in Culver City.
“Kick It In the Park” watch parties organized by the Office of Mayor Karen Bass, Los Angeles City Council members and Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks will be held at Jackie Tatum Harvard Recreation Center and Evermont Plaza in South Los Angeles, Stoner Recreation Center in West Los Angeles and Warner Center Park in Woodland Hills.
Recent Comments