Los Angeles opened the American part of the World Cup with a blend of football, music and Hollywood spectacle
Los Angeles glamorously opened the American part of the FIFA World Cup on 12 June 2026 with a ceremony at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, immediately before the Group D match between the United States of America and Paraguay. According to FIFA, the start of the American ceremony was scheduled for 16:30 local time, an hour and a half before the match, which enabled the organisers to turn the sporting programme into a major television and stadium event. In its official communication during the tournament, FIFA uses the name Los Angeles Stadium, although the venue is the stadium known as SoFi Stadium, one of the most recognisable sports facilities in Southern California. The match began at 18:00 Pacific Time, and the host USA opened its tournament campaign with a 4:1 victory, according to the official report by U.S. Soccer and FIFA’s match centre.
The American ceremony was the third major opening event of this World Cup, after the programmes in Mexico and Canada. For the 2026 edition, FIFA organised three separate opening ceremonies for the first time, one in each host country, thereby emphasising the three-country format of the competition and the breadth of the tournament being played in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America. In Los Angeles, that concept received a strong Hollywood stamp: the red carpet, famous faces from the film, television and music industries, and performances by international artists combined football with global pop culture. According to FIFA’s announcements, the programme was conceived as a celebration of sport, music and entertainment, but also as a message that the American part of the tournament would be shaped in the spirit of major stadium spectacles.
The red carpet before the USA and Paraguay match
The arrival of famous guests was one of the most visible elements of the programme in Los Angeles. Times of India reported that Paris Hilton, Rob Lowe, Jaafar Jackson, Becky G, Josh Peck, Will Forte and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje appeared on the red carpet before the ceremony, while other guests from the entertainment world were also seen in the boxes and stands. The same source stated that Tom Cruise, David and Victoria Beckham, Jason Sudeikis, Owen Wilson and Sofía Vergara were among the notable invitees. Such a guest list was no coincidence: Los Angeles is one of the strongest global centres of the entertainment industry, so the beginning of the American part of the World Cup was also conceived as an event that goes beyond sporting protocol.
The connection between football and American television and film culture was particularly emphasised. Jason Sudeikis, known for the series “Ted Lasso”, according to the Times of India report, took part in a small flag parade on the pitch, giving the ceremony an additional link to the popular culture that in recent years has helped bring football closer to part of the American audience. David Beckham’s presence had additional symbolism because the former England international and long-time MLS star has for years been one of the recognisable figures in the growth of football in the USA. In that sense, Los Angeles served as a backdrop for presenting the World Cup not only as a competition of national teams, but also as a global entertainment product.
A music programme with names from several continents
For the American ceremony, FIFA assembled a music line-up that covered different genres and markets. According to FIFA’s official announcement, Katy Perry, Future, Anitta, LISA, Rema and Tyla performed in the programme. In that way, Los Angeles received a line-up connecting American pop and hip-hop, Brazilian pop, the Korean pop scene, afrobeats and the South African music scene. Such a choice of performers was aligned with the organisers’ ambition to present the 2026 World Cup as a tournament for a global audience, and not merely as a sporting event linked to the three host countries.
Katy Perry was one of the central names of the evening. People reported that during the ceremony the singer performed the song “Wonder” with the young Norwegian vocalist Tius, who appears on that song. The same source stated that Perry was part of the final section of the Los Angeles celebration and that she performed in a silver Stella McCartney creation. According to People and Times of India, Future, Tyla, Anitta, LISA from the group BLACKPINK and Rema also took part in the programme. The anthems were also performed before the match: according to People, the American anthem was sung by the country duo Dan + Shay, while the Paraguayan anthem was performed by the group Purahéi Soul.
Los Angeles thus offered a different kind of ceremony from classic sporting protocols. Instead of a short formal introduction, the organisers emphasised stage movement, mass production, performances adapted for television broadcast and recognisable performers with international reach. In its announcement of the programme, FIFA stated that fans in the stadium would have an active role in the show, and spectators were advised to arrive at the stadium earlier. Such an approach clearly showed that the American part of the tournament relies on the experience of major entertainment events that are common in the USA before or during the most watched sports broadcasts.
The USA victory gave the evening sporting weight
After the musical and ceremonial part, the focus shifted to the Group D match. According to U.S. Soccer, the American national team defeated Paraguay 4:1 and thus opened its World Cup campaign with a convincing result in front of 70,492 spectators. The official report states that the USA took the lead in the 7th minute after an own goal by Damián Bobadilla, and Folarin Balogun scored two goals in the first half, in the 31st minute and in stoppage time. Paraguay reduced the deficit through Mauricio in the 73rd minute, while Giovanni Reyna made it the final 4:1 in the eighth minute of stoppage time.
According to U.S. Soccer, the USA had a three-goal lead at half-time for the first time in the history of its World Cup appearances. The same source stated that Balogun became only the second American player with more than one goal in a World Cup match, after Bert Patenaude in 1930. FIFA’s official match centre confirmed the result, goalscorers and basic statistical indicators, including the American advantage in ball possession and number of shots. The sporting part of the evening thus gave additional weight to the ceremony: the spectacle had been conceived as an introduction to the match, but the host’s convincing victory ensured that Los Angeles would be discussed because of football as well, not only because of the pop-cultural programme.
For Paraguay, the match had a special context because the national team returned to the World Cup after 16 years of absence. The Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee stated in its schedule that Paraguay is appearing in its ninth World Cup in 2026, after previously playing most recently in 2010. At that time, the Paraguayan national team achieved the best result in its history, reaching the quarter-finals. Precisely because of that background, the duel with the USA had a value greater than the ceremony itself: for the host it marked the beginning of a campaign in front of its own public, and for Paraguay a return to the world’s biggest football stage.
Los Angeles as a key American stage of the tournament
Los Angeles is not hosting only the ceremonial beginning of the American part of the competition. According to the schedule published by the Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee, the city and the stadium in Inglewood have eight matches of the 2026 World Cup, including five group-stage matches, two round-of-32 matches and one quarter-final. The same document states that the USA and Paraguay match was Match 4 of the tournament in Los Angeles, while the quarter-final at the same stadium is scheduled for 10 July. Thus Los Angeles remains relevant through almost the entire tournament, and not only in its opening week.
According to the same schedule, national teams such as Iran, New Zealand, Switzerland and Belgium also play at the stadium in Los Angeles, along with additional opponents determined by the draw and play-offs. Such a schedule confirms that the Californian market is one of the most important American hubs of the tournament. The city has for decades been connected with major sporting and entertainment events, and the stadium in Inglewood was built precisely with the ambition of attracting the biggest global events. Kevin Demoff, president of the Los Angeles Rams, in a statement carried by the local committee, emphasised that the stadium was built with the aim of bringing major international events to Los Angeles and Inglewood.
Local organisers had already emphasised the broader effect of the World Cup on the region before the start of the tournament. The Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee stated that it acts as a link between FIFA and the Los Angeles region and that the organisation includes the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission, Los Angeles Rams, SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, LAFC and LA Galaxy. Such a composition shows that this is a project connecting sports infrastructure, local authorities, the tourism sector and football clubs. In a statement carried by the committee, Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass described the tournament as an opportunity for the region to present its culture, community and sporting capacities to an international audience.
The biggest World Cup so far
The 2026 World Cup is the biggest edition of the tournament in FIFA’s history. According to FIFA’s official schedule and the documents of the local committee, the competition is being played in 16 host cities in Canada, Mexico and the United States of America, with a total of 104 matches. It is the first edition with 48 national teams, which is a significant increase compared with the previous format of 32 teams. The final match is scheduled for 19 July at New York New Jersey Stadium, while matches are distributed from Mexico and Canada to several American metropolitan areas.
Such a format significantly changes the logistics and the way the tournament is presented. The Los Angeles committee’s document states that the schedule was composed so as to reduce travel for teams and fans and increase the number of rest days between matches. At the same time, the organisers must coordinate stadiums, local transport, fan zones, security plans and television slots for markets on several continents. In Los Angeles, therefore, the discussion is not only about one ceremony and one match, but about a multi-day programme that includes sport, tourism, entertainment and local activations. According to LA Tourism, a series of activities for fans is planned during the tournament in the region.
For FIFA, the American ceremony in Los Angeles was an opportunity to show how football can fit into the entertainment industry without giving up its sporting identity. The choice of performers, the arrival of famous guests and the set design were directed toward a global television audience, but the final impression of the evening also depended strongly on what happened after the opening whistle. Since the USA convincingly defeated Paraguay, the American part of the tournament began successfully in terms of results, while Los Angeles showed why the organisers present it as one of the main stages of the 2026 World Cup.
Sources:
- FIFA – official announcement of the American opening ceremony, list of performers and context of the three ceremonies (link)
- FIFA – additional information about the programme in Los Angeles and the start time of the ceremony (link)
- FIFA – official match centre for USA – Paraguay with the result, goalscorers and statistics (link)
- U.S. Soccer – live report and summary of the USA’s 4:1 victory against Paraguay (link)
- Los Angeles World Cup 2026 Host Committee – official schedule of matches in Los Angeles and local organisational context (link)
- People – report on Katy Perry’s performance, the music programme and the anthems in Los Angeles (link)
- Times of India – report on the red carpet, famous guests and the course of the ceremony in Los Angeles (link)
- FIFA – official tournament schedule, number of matches, host cities and final stage of the 2026 World Cup (link)