A few days have passed since the United States sailed through in its World Cup opener, and the wave of hope remains on the rise as the group stage moves forward.
The joint-hosting U.S. side powered past Paraguay in its first FIFA World Cup match on Friday with a 4–1 domination that could have been a six-goal romp with some better fortune. And with each goal and subsequent victory, the wall of resistance—known as the rest of the field—might start to do a double take on the United States.
Head coach Mauricio Pochettino, whom the United States turned to in 2024 to lead its squad into this World Cup, was even impressed by the fierce energy of fans who showed up in the stands at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. It seems as if all invested U.S. parties came with hope, but walked away with belief.
“If I need to press today one thing, it’s not only the principal actor, but the fans,” Pochettino said during his postgame press conference, acknowledging the enthusiasm of the supporters.
“Amazing. They were amazing. The whole team must say thank you to the fans, because the energy that they translated to the team was amazing. And we can do amazing things if the fans are in this way.”
Folarin Balogun, whose two goals paced the Americans against Paraguay, pointed to the strong voices in the crowd as a reason for the team’s forceful showing.
“We need the fans to support us and be the extra man, and today they [were],” said Balogun, who had missed on a scoring chance minutes before netting his first tally.
Pochettino is a man who knows very well—good and bad—about the influence supporters can have on a team.
Meanwhile, the U.S. history in World Cup play is a series of missteps, miskicks and missed chances. The 1994 squad, which also had the advantage of playing at home, advanced past the group stage but lost to eventual champion Brazil in the Round of 16.
When asked about the ability of his team to score four times in a cup match despite a history of tight games and barely pushing through for victories, Pochettino fired off his own shot right back at reporters.
“Difficult question, because it’s in the past. Today is today. It’s difficult to compare now with the past,” he said. “I don’t know what happened in the past. I think we need to talk about today and the players deserve big credit because I think it was a great match,” added Pochettino, who then steered his comments back toward the U.S. supporters.
“It was amazing for our fans to watch this type of game. And today, I am so proud and we are so proud, all [of us], because I think we are winning a lot of fans in the sport here in America.”
When fielding a question from a foreign reporter about the pressure of playing in front of a home crowd, Pochettino shed a bit of insight into his approach.
“I think we were talking a lot in the last few weeks, and I think what was the key is to translate all that expectation and pressure [into] energy,” he said. “That was the way that we approached the first day when we started to work all together.”
Pochettino concluded by saying the focus for his players during the game was on the basics: “just play,” he said. “And I think their approach went really, really well.”
Hopes are high for the United States also because of its standing in Group D, which also includes Australia and Turkey. The American men are the highest ranking among the four sides after moving up two spots to 15th, with Australia at 24th, Turkey 27th and Paraguay 42nd. Australia and the United States face off Friday in Seattle.
The goal is for the U.S. men to push deep into the newly formatted tournament and make a hands-across-America run that pumps oxygen into the sport nationwide.
The New York Knicks put an end to possible TV competition by closing out the NBA Finals on Saturday, Major League Baseball is not even close to its climax, and the NFL season hasn’t started, meaning the three major sports have effectively cleared the stage for soccer to take another big leap here with a serious run for the cup.
And behind fan power, the U.S. train is gaining steam.
