{"id":14353,"date":"2026-06-11T22:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T22:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=14353"},"modified":"2026-06-11T22:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T22:02:08","slug":"usmnt-begins-world-cup-journey-against-paraguay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=14353","title":{"rendered":"USMNT begins World Cup journey against Paraguay"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The 1994 Men\u2019s FIFA World Cup changed the sport of soccer in the United States forever.<\/p>\n

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The first World Cup in North America was greeted by large crowds around the country and two years later a new professional league was created in Major League Soccer.<\/p>\n

Alexi Lalas, a defender on the 1994 team, said that the \u201c1994 World Cup changed his life forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast forward 32 years later, the World Cup has returned to the United States, along with Mexico and Canada. A lot has changed for soccer in America since 1994, but as the USMNT prepares to kick off the tournament Friday, the question already being asked is what will the sport look like on the other side of this expanded tournament.<\/p>\n

The road begins Friday at SoFi Stadium, known for the tournament as the Los Angeles Stadium. The USMNT faces Paraguay in the opener of Group D. One week later, the team heads to Seattle to face Australia and then back to L.A. to conclude group action against Turkiye (June 25).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m old enough that I remember bits and pieces of 1994, so I\u2019ve tried to tell guys and tried to convey the messaging that this is a once-in-a-career opportunity, and with that comes more expectation, more pressure,\u201d defender and captain Tim Ream said. \u201cThere\u2019s nobody putting more expectation and more pressure on us than ourselves and that\u2019s the way it should be.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s about just opening your eyes and taking everything in, because this is unique. This is completely different from anything any of us has experienced. So take it in and embrace everything that it is, because it\u2019s so unique, it\u2019s so special, and it\u2019s not something we\u2019ll ever be doing again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from a third-place finish in the very first tournament in 1930, the USMNT has advanced past the Round of 16 only once, back in 2002 in South Korea\/Japan. The team, coached by Bruce Arena, made it to the quarterfinal.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

This edition of the World Cup is expanded to 48 teams, meaning an additional Round of 32 will be played before the Round of 16. With the possibility of some third-place teams advancing to the knockout stages, it would take a total collapse not to advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou dream of this opportunity, you work for the \u200bopportunity, but you never know if it\u2019s going to come,\u201d goalkeeper Matt Freese said. \u201cPressure makes diamonds, and I think we\u2019re a group of 26 guys that \u200bwants to show that we\u2019re a bunch of diamonds.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The U.S. will face a Group D full of familiar opponents.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s first game is against Paraguay. The teams met in November with the U.S. prevailing 2-1. In October, the U.S. defeated Australia 2-1. They will meet again June 19 in Seattle and the final group game will pit the U.S. against Turkiye. Last June, Turkiye defeated the U.S. 2-1.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Familiarity could definitely breed contempt, especially against Paraguay, as the late stages of that November meeting were marred by a scuffle breaking out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the spark (with Paraguay) actually started in Gold Cup,\u201d Ream said. \u201cThere were a few get-togethers in those games as well, so I think the game (in November) there was a little bit extra. It had the feel of a game that meant something more and now you look at it and you think, OK, that\u2019s a perfect test for us in that moment. It\u2019s good that we\u2019ve had that experience, but come to this point, it\u2019s a World Cup and that game is in the rearview mirror. We have to be prepared for everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paraguay is making its first World Cup appearance since 2010 after finishing sixth in the CONMEBOL qualifying.<\/p>\n

The USMNT have had several runs of average World Cups. In the past, making it out of the group was considered a positive. After 2002, the USMNT failed to get out of the group in 2006 and have had Round of 16 exits in 2010, 2014 and 2022. The U.S. failed to qualify in 2018.<\/p>\n

Getting off to a good start in the Group Stage is important. The last time the U.S. won its group opener was in 2002.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this group can get to the quarterfinals,\u201d Maurice Edu, who played on the 2010 World Cup team, said. \u201cIs that going to be easy? No. Not at all, but there\u2019s no greater opportunity than playing in a home World Cup to really do something unique.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur challenge, dream and expectation for this group is to get to a quarterfinal. It\u2019s a home World Cup, if they do that, the support that they\u2019re going to garner and attract is going to be incredible. I felt that support (from the fans) from afar. I was in South Africa (2010) and the support we felt, not in the country, but social media, you could feel that energy and support from back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we\u2019re home, we\u2019re not in a foreign country. That support is going to engulf this group and team if they can make that deep run. If they can get to a quarterfinal, then why can\u2019t they go that one step further (the semifinals) and do something incredibly special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Appeals court says U.S. government can keep collecting 10% tariffs for now<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The USMNT will face Paraguay, Australia and Turkiye in Group D action in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the first in the United States since a memorable 1994.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nUSMNT begins World Cup journey against Paraguay - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=14353\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USMNT begins World Cup journey against Paraguay - 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