World Cup 2026: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood hosts first match on US soil in 32 years

Team USA opened its World Cup campaign with a win over Paraguay, setting off celebrations at SoFi Stadium and watch parties across the region.

Team USA opened its World Cup campaign with a win over Paraguay on Friday, setting off celebrations at SoFi Stadium -- which has temporarily been renamed Los Angeles Stadium -- and watch parties across Southern California.

From the first goal, fans outside the stadium and at gatherings around the region erupted as the U.S. delivered the kind of performance supporters had hoped to see on one of soccer's biggest stages.

"I'm speechless right now. This is the best game I've ever seen in my life," one fan said.

Across the area, chants of "USA! USA! USA!" broke out as supporters reacted to the victory.

"This is the team. I have a feeling that we're going to go really, really far, probably 'till the end," another fan said.

Thousands gathered at the Los Angeles Coliseum for the FIFA Fan Fest on Friday, and hundreds more stopped by the Autry Museum for a watch party. But some of the loudest celebrations came in Inglewood, where fans packed Market Street for a city-sponsored watch party and street festival called Wood Cup.

"We are an international city with an international flavor, and Market Street is activated, and this is my dream!" Inglewood Mayor James Butts Jr. said.

Lucia Ortiz of Inglewood described the scene as a communitywide celebration.

"Oh my goodness, look at all these people. They come from all over. But we're all united. We all come for the joy of watching the game," Ortiz said.

For fans who could not get into Friday's opener, the free Wood Cup event offered another way to be part of the atmosphere.

"This is the biggest thing by far to happen by far in Inglewood. We had the Super Bowl, the Clippers, the Rams, but this is by far the biggest thing," Reginald Shaw said.

Some fans were already looking ahead to a possible title run.

"Who knows? Maybe we'll win. Win it all," Abraham Ortiz of Inglewood said.

Others were more cautious. When asked whether the United States would win the World Cup, one fan replied, "I don't know. That one... I don't know."

Australia is the next match for Team USA in Seattle next week. The next match at Los Angeles Stadium is set for Monday, when New Zealand will face Iran.

Folarin Balogun scored twice in the Americans' historic three-goal first half, and the U.S. opened its first home World Cup in 32 years with its biggest win in the tournament, a dynamic 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday night.

Christian Pulisic had an assist in a stellar first-half playmaking performance for the Americans, who enthralled their Southern California fans with an aggressive attack while streaking to a 3-0 halftime lead - the team's largest in any World Cup game.

Gio Reyna ripped another goal in the dying moments of second-half injury time, giving the Americans four goals in a World Cup match for the first time.

The U.S. scored only three goals combined in its four matches at the Qatar World Cup four years ago, and it had never scored more than three in a World Cup match. But the Americans were a team transformed while playing in new coach Mauricio Pochettino's more creative system in front of a passionate, star-studded Los Angeles crowd of 70,492.

Maurício scored in the second half for Paraguay, but La Albirroja fell too far behind early in their first World Cup match in 16 years.

After the U.S. went ahead on an early own-goal created by Pulisic's playmaking, Balogun scored in the 31st minute and again in the fifth minute of first-half injury time.

The New York-born, London-raised striker made his World Cup debut with the first multigoal performance from a U.S. player in the tournament since 1930. Balogun chose to represent the U.S. three years ago instead of staying in the English system, where he likely would have struggled to make the Three Lions' roster - and the 24-year-old Monaco professional has swiftly provided the top-level striker play historically lacking on U.S. rosters.

Pulisic was replaced by Sebastian Berhalter at halftime, but the U.S. didn't immediately indicate whether the AC Milan standout was injured. Pulisic appeared to signal to family in the stands that he was fine.

Pulisic created the first two U.S. goals with exceptional runs down the left side. In the seventh minute, he cleverly split two defenders and passed to Weston McKennie, whose centering touch hit Paraguay midfielder Damián Bobadilla's outstretched foot and went in, setting off pandemonium in the SoFi Stadium stands.

The Americans gradually amplified their attack centered around Pulisic's runs - and three minutes after an apparent goal from Balogun was erased by an offside call, Pulisic again drove the left side and got a deflected pass to the trailing Balogun, who banged it home.

With first-half injury time winding down, Malik Tillman weighted a long pass to a streaking Balogun, who held up to create space and fired a brilliant shot into the far top corner.

The Americans were less cohesive without Pulisic in the second half, but Reyna still added the finishing touch by gliding into the box and toe-flicking home his first World Cup goal. The moment was sweet for Reyna, who barely played at the Qatar World Cup amid a messy family dispute with former U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter.

Dozens of American celebrities and cultural icons turned out for the match 10 miles south of Hollywood, including Tom Cruise, George Lucas, Bill Gates, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

The US Men's National Team says its ready to take on Paraguay in the World Cup and expects to get much further in the tournament this time around.

In the World Cup four our years ago, in Qatar, the United States National Team finished #2 in their group and advanced to the Round of 16. This year's squad, a "Golden Generation" of players, is expected to get to the knockout round once again, with those expectations much higher.

With the tournament in their backyard, the U.S. Men's National Team is expected to have a long stay at the World Cup and looking to set a new benchmark for U.S. soccer.

Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino says his team is ready and it's probably too late for motivational speeches.

"Everyone knows how to be ready. I say now, there's no need for external motivation or inspirational speech. Tomorrow it's late," Pochettino said Thursday at a press conference.

Part of the reason the expectations are so high is because half of the players on this team also played in the 2022 World Cup team. The face of the "Golden Generation" Christian Pulisic says it's that familiarity that has this team ready to take on the world.

"It's like a family, obviously. So many of us have known each other for such a long time and played together for a long time -- you know, a lot of guys at the last World Cup," Pulisic said. "We've just been growing together. Yeah, it's a really good group that we have. We're a really good team. We're able to compete with anyone and we want to be a real force in this tournament. I think that's what we want to show to everyone. I think we know, from the inside, what we're capable of... now it's about showing it."

World Cup co-hosts Mexico and Canada already completed their first match. Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 in the World Cup opener on Thursday. Canada and Bosnia-Herzegovina played to a 1-1 draw earlier Friday, in Toronto.

The U.S. will take the pitch against Paraguay at 6 p.m. Friday.

Whether you're going to a match, a watch party or pretty much anywhere around Los Angeles, brace yourself -- officials are warning of World Cup traffic.

As SoCal welcomes the FIFA World Cup 2026, fans from around the world are in town for all the festivities. L.A. Metro says its prepared for this and wants to make it easy for everyone to get around and also affordable.

"We want to give people a really easy option to get to the fan zones, to get to the games to go support the U.S.," said L.A. Metro spokesperson Patrick Chandler.

L.A. Metro is the official transit provider for the Los Angeles World Cup. Metro said enhanced World Cup bus service to SoFi Stadium will operate from 15 locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties:

• El Camino College in Torrance

• Crenshaw Metro Station

• Culver City Transit Center

• downtown Long Beach

• downtown Santa Monica

• Harbor Gateway Transit Center

• Hawthorne/Lennox Metro Station

• North Hollywood Metro Station

• Pierce College Station in Woodland Hills

• Torrance Transit Center

• Union Station

• LAX/Metro Transit Center

• Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center

• Newport Transportation Center

• several pickup locations near LAX

Fare for the service will be $1.75 each way. Buses will begin operating up to three hours before kickoff and continue running for up to two hours after each match ends, according to Metro.

2,000 transit agency employees will also be deployed throughout Los Angeles County during the tournament to assist riders.

"We're trying to make sure that we have people out there that speak all the languages that are out there because it's L.A., we speak all languages of the world... so we have staff out there to help people," Chandler said.

Regional transit partners also are expanding service for the tournament. Metrolink plans enhanced rail service following all eight World Cup matches in the Los Angeles area and during official FIFA Fan Zone events at Union Station later in the tournament.

Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner will add late-night service on select match days, allowing fans to return to destinations including San Diego, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo after matches.

Intercity carriers FlixBus and Greyhound also are preparing for increased demand by connecting travelers from cities including San Diego, Bakersfield and Las Vegas to regional transit hubs such as Union Station, downtown Long Beach and Anaheim, officials said.

Metro also announced a partnership with Uber that will provide discounted rides through temporary Metro Micro zones in Hollywood and East Los Angeles on match days. The program will offer a $10 discount on eligible trips connecting riders to World Cup transit services.

The United States is scheduled to face Paraguay on Friday in its World Cup opener at SoFi Stadium.

For more information, go to www.metro.net/riding/world-cup.

Caltrans announced they will temporarily pause construction projects along certain routes from 5 a.m. on game days to 5 a.m. the following day. This includes major interstates like the 101 and 405 freeways.

Whether you're going to a match, a watch party or pretty much anywhere around Los Angeles, brace yourself, officials are warning of World Cup traffic.

City News Service contributed to this report.