L.A. defies the skeptics for a World Cup marked by unity, mutual respect, fearlessness
Fans participate in the wave during the first half of a World Cup group stage match between Iran and New Zealand.
(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)
The run-up to the World Cup in Los Angeles was marked by anxiety over how immigration enforcement, travel restrictions and anti-Trump backlash would affect the spirit and attendance of the games.
But on the streets of L.A. over the last week, something very different has happened.
Fans from a kaleidoscope of cultural backgrounds have come together to act out the kind of world — and city — they want to live in.
Skip $300 parking. How to get to the World Cup at SoFi Stadium on $1.75 Metro shuttles
(Photo illustration by Jim Cooke / Los Angeles Times; photos by Getty Images)
In a perfect world, you’d be able to take a helicopter from your home straight to Sofi Stadium during the World Cup. But unfortunately, we do not live in that world, so you’ll probably need to find a reliable and cheap way to get to the World Cup.
Fans from all around will flock to the Los Angeles area for the biggest sport event in the world, meaning that traffic will be worse (if you can imagine), buses will be fuller and Metro stops will drown in the flags and jerseys of all competing nations.
Amid travel bans, ICE fears and political turmoil, wary fans try to find World Cup joy
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
In many ways, the most ambitious World Cup in history — which kicked off Thursday in Mexico City — has inspired more angst than anticipation, more fear than fervor.
The competition, returning to North America for the first time in more than three decades, has expanded to 48 teams and 104 matches, to be played over 39 days in 16 cities in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. The complex planning was eight years in the making.
L.A. museum highlights Jewish roots that shaped world’s most popular soccer styles
A painting made by an artist in a concentration camp depicts prisoners playing soccer. The image is one of items on display in a new Holocaust Museum LA exhibit.
(Eric Thayer/Los Angeles Times)
Béla Guttmann may be the most consequential soccer coach you’ve never heard of. But if it weren’t for Guttmann, you may never have heard of Pelé.
And Brazil may never have become the greatest soccer-playing country on Earth.
That’s because Guttmann changed the shape of modern Brazilian soccer — and changed the sport forever — when he imported the revolutionary 4-2-4 system from Hungary to Sao Paulo in 1957. A year later, Brazil won the first of five World Cups and the joga bonito was born.
Born in Brooklyn, raised in London, Folarin Balogun lights up the World Cup for the U.S.
U.S. forward Folarin Balogun, left, scored twice against Paraguy during the USMNT’s World Cup group stage opener on Friday, the first American player to score multiple goals in a World Cup match in 96 years.
(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)
SEATTLE — If a pregnant Nigerian woman had been allowed to board a plane 25 years ago, the U.S. team’s path through this summer’s World Cup may have unfolded much differently. Instead, a gate agent turned her away, insisting it wasn’t safe for her to fly from New York to London.
So Florence Balogun returned to Brooklyn, where she had been visiting relatives, and waited for her second son to be born. And when Folarin arrived a few weeks later, entering the world just hours before Independence Day dawned, he did so as an American citizen.
It was that quirk of fate that allowed Balogun, who lived just two months in the U.S., to represent the country on soccer’s biggest stage.
Swanson: He lost his father to Iran’s regime. At the World Cup in L.A., he cheered for Team Melli
Iran, left, and New Zealand enter the pitch before their World Cup group stage match at SoFi Stadium on Monday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Unprecedented sports feats and historical firsts are usually joyous affairs. Something to celebrate, fun trivia to tuck away for later.
On Monday in Inglewood, the history was much more fraught, and not at all trivial.
Iran’s national soccer team played on American soil — this time on SoFi Stadium’s natural turf — for the first time in 26 years. And for the first time, a country hosted a World Cup participant with which it is mired in an on-again, off-again war.
Fox versus Telemundo: How hydration breaks and commercials are disrupting World Cup viewing
Mexico head coach Javier Aguirre talks with his players during the hydration break in the 2026 World Cup Group A football match between Mexico and South Africa at the Mexico City Stadium in Mexico City on June 11, 2026.
(Photo by Yuri Cortez / AFP via Getty Images)
Fox is under fire for missing on-field action during the first match of the World Cup last week.
Many sports fans were irate when the network aired a full-screen ad when play resumed after a water break during last Thursday’s Mexico–South Africa match.
In the second half, the referee called for the newly instated hydration break, but the call came during a replay, which led to a miscommunication over when the three-minute break actually started.
Want to watch World Cup for free or low cost? Find L.A. area fan festivals and zones
The exterior of SoFi Stadium is covered with signs promoting the 2026 World Cup.
(Scott Strazzante / Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Organizing Committee has collaborated with an array of agencies to create one primary fan festival and 10 official fan zones throughout the L.A. area during the 39-day World Cup.
Match broadcasts there will be available via Fox and Telemundo, allowing attendees to follow the tournament live throughout the competition. Each venue will have different programming.
Pico Rivera’s Cristian Roldan may be last made-in-high-school U.S. World Cup star
U.S. men’s national team player Cristian Roldan, center, and his teammates arrive at SoFi Stadium before the World Cup group stage match between the United States and Paraguay on June 12 in Inglewood.
(Kelvin Kuo / Los Angeles Times)
SEATTLE — Cristian Roldan and Haji Wright grew up less than three years and 30 miles apart, Roldan in Pico Rivera and Wright in Culver City. The odds that they would go on to become teammates on not one, but two, U.S. World Cup teams seem astronomical.
Yet despite starting at the same time and place and arriving together at the same destination, the two players followed completely different paths to get there.
Wright joined the Galaxy’s academy at 14 and signed with Schalke of the top tier German Bundesliga days after his 18th birthday. Roldan was still playing for El Rancho, when he was 17, making him the only member of the U.S. World Cup team to play four years at a public high school.
Swanson: From poker pro to World Cup coach: Sergej Barbarez all in with Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina coach Sergej Barbarez shakes hands with one of his players before a loss to Switzerland in the World Cup Group B play at Los Angeles Stadium (SoFi Stadium) on Thursday.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Imagine it. A neophyte coach, leading a team for the first time at any competitive level, and it being a high-profile assignment on the biggest of big stages.
A self-assured broadcaster, critical and competitive, having his bluff called, being invited to not just talk about it, but to be about it: Walk the walk, why don’t you?
A former player — scorer, shooter — being challenged to step up and right a listing ship while navigating politics and the push and pull of history and high hopes.
Why this World Cup could do for Canada what 1994 did for soccer in the U.S.
Canada’s Jonathan David celebrates after scoring one of three goals during a 6-0 win over Qatar at the World Cup on Thursday.
(Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, Canada — When the first men’s World Cup game played in Canada kicked off last week, Anthony Totera sat in the stands and wept.
“It was a dream come true,” said Totera, who has spent most of his 57 years on earth promoting Canadian soccer. “I can’t describe the emotions. It was something surreal.”
If the 1994 World Cup, the first held in the U.S., forever altered the direction of American soccer, this summer’s tournament, which Canada is sharing with the U.S. and Mexico, has the potential to do the same for that country.
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre answers critics by leading his team to World Cup knockout round
Mexico coach Javier Aguirre congratulates Luis Romo after Romo scored El Tri’s goal against South Korea during a World Cup match on Thursday in Guadalajara.
(Natacha Pisarenko / Associated Press)
GUADALAJARA, Jalisco — Before the World Cup, critics and fans of the Mexican national team debated whether Javier Aguirre’s third stint as head coach was the right decision. Two games later, the coach has led Mexico to the tournament’s knockout round.
Thursday’s 1-0 victory over South Korea at Guadalajara Stadium made the World Cup co-host the first in the tournament to advance while also clinching the top spot in Group A with one group play game remaining. After South Korea’s goalkeeper fumbled a ball, Luis Romo scored the goal that gave the Mexicans six points and pushed them to the top of the standings.
El Tri will close out the first round against Czechia (6 p.m.) at Azteca Stadium on Wednesday.
‘We want to lift the trophy.’ U.S. makes history in World Cup win over Australia
U.S. defender Alex Freeman (16) celebrates with teammates after scoring in a 2-0 win over Australia in World Cup Group D play Friday in Seattle.
(Manu Fernandez / Associated Press)
SEATTLE — The World Cup is only a little more than a week old, but it’s already a historic one for the U.S.
With Friday’s 2-0 win over Australia, the U.S. matched its best World Cup performance ever with two victories. Their six goals match the most the U.S. has ever scored in the group stage and its goal differential of plus-five is also its best ever in the tournament. The U.S. also clinched a spot in the round of 32.
Most impressive of all, however, is how the U.S. achieved most of that without their best player, Christian Pulisic, who had an electric first half in the U.S. opener against Paraguay but hasn’t seen the field since.
World Cup group standings and results heading into Sunday
Here’s where things stand in each group heading into Sunday’s four World Cup group stage matches:
2026 World Cup guide: Full TV schedule, game previews, results and standings
Argentina star Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring his third goal against Algeria in the World Cup on June 16.
(Michael Steele / Getty Images)
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is well into the second run of group play, with every team still eager to post wins and most looking to secure a place in the knockout stage.
Here’s everything you need to know about matches being played Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the 48-team tournament across the U.S., Mexico and Canada (all times Pacific). Tuesday’s matches will conclude the first two games of group play for every team at the World Cup.
Looking back at the first 10 days of the 2026 FIFA World Cup
The first 10 days of the 2026 FIFA World Cup offered plenty of memorable moments.
Check out The Times’ daily recaps ahead of Sunday’s four game slate:
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