"People who don't even watch soccer are tuning in." That line, from a fan outside SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, might be the most significant thing said during the entire opening week of the 2026 World Cup.
On Friday night, the USA played their first home World Cup match in 32 years, facing Paraguay in front of 70,492 fans in Southern California. In 1994, football was a novelty the country was briefly hosting. This time, it feels like something the country actually wants.
A different America than 1994
The transformation isn't just attendance figures. Walk into a grocery store, a department store, down a street — World Cup branding is everywhere. The NBA Finals and Stanley Cup Finals are both running simultaneously, the MLB season is underway, and the World Cup is still leading the conversation. That would have been unthinkable a decade ago.
"Growing up playing soccer, and then seeing where things are now, it's an absolutely different landscape altogether," said Jason from Atlanta. He's right. Football has climbed to third in America's most popular sports, behind NFL and NBA. The gap is narrowing.
The Paraguay side of the equation added real texture to the occasion. Their supporters hadn't watched their national team at a World Cup since 2010 — 16 years of absence that gave Friday's match an emotional charge no group-stage fixture normally carries. Fans flew in from Asunción. Others came from the 25,000-strong diaspora already living in the US. "Returning to the World Cup is practically a national cause," said Alexis, who made the trip from Paraguay's capital.
Ticket chaos, sellout anyway
The road to a full house wasn't smooth. This was originally the third-most expensive match in the entire tournament — Category 1 tickets listed at $2,735, Category 2 at $1,940, Category 3 at $1,120. Prices dropped sharply as the tournament approached, with Category 1 falling below $1,150 by match day. One fan from New York bought nosebleed tickets on day one for $3,200 a pair, then upgraded to section 121 — behind the goal — for just $3,500 total. He took a loss on the originals and didn't care.
Seventy thousand people still showed up. The pricing chaos didn't dent the atmosphere or the demand.
What the tournament is doing to the betting market is worth watching. When casual fans who never followed football start caring about results, they start placing bets. US sportsbooks are reporting World Cup interest at levels they've never seen domestically — the combination of home soil, accessible viewing, and a USMNT with something to prove is pushing engagement well beyond any previous tournament.
"I feel like everyone's watching. Everybody's getting behind the US or their country," said Christian from Riverside, showing up in a USMNT jersey under eagle-print overalls. Even Paraguay fans wanted a photo with him.
That's probably the cleanest summary of what this World Cup is doing to the United States right now — strangers in red-and-white taking pictures together outside a football stadium in Los Angeles, both sets of fans knowing they're part of something that hasn't happened here before.
