The 2026 FIFA World Cup has now officially kicked off — pun intended — and the U.S. Men’s National Team took its first victory 4-1 Friday night.
Connecticut is not hosting any of the 104 tournament matches, played across North America, but fans still gathered across the state for the first U.S. match against Paraguay.
Paraguayans are the smallest population of Latinos in the U.S. — with 26,000 in the entire country, according to the latest U.S. Census data. The Connecticut Mirror reports just 566 Paraguayans called Connecticut home in 2023.
Where fans watched
Manchester’s dedicated sports bar, 2nd Bridge Soccer Pub, came highly recommended as fans looked to social media sites, like Facebook and Reddit, for the best Connecticut watch party locations. That’s how recent transplant Kasey Kalloch of Texas found the bar.
“And then, I went to look it up on Google Maps, and I saw all the scarves. And I go, ‘That's a soccer bar!’” Kalloch said, gesturing up to a light blue New York City FC scarf pinned above his head. It’s in a sea of colorful scarves from locations as close as New England and as far as across the Atlantic Ocean.
Kalloch said it was worth the 40-minute drive through Hartford from his home in Avon.
“It's been awesome,” Kalloch said. “I'm only ever going to watch soccer games at this bar.”
The brewing company, now in its ninth year, has always been a hub for fans of the sport but only rebranded as a “soccer pub” in 2026. They recently added an outdoor beer garden and screens for the World Cup — neither of which were able to be used Friday in the rainy weather.
Across the indoor bar from Kalloch, regular Lucas Garcia was just thankful to be home for the game.
“Part of me didn't expect us to win. I did not expect us to dominate,” Garcia said. “Oh my god, I'm just so in love with this game, with this country, this bar, this team.”
The futbol fan is studying at Boston University and hasn’t found a similar soccer-specific setting, particularly one allowing 18-year-olds, in his new city.
Outside of the World Cup season, Garcia keeps up with European football over Major League Soccer. (Connecticut’s professional soccer teams, Hartford Athletic and Bridgeport’s CT United FC, compete in the second tier United Soccer League and third tier MLS Next Pro respectively.) The Manchester, Connecticut native roots for the Premier League’s Manchester City F.C. and has watched most games at the more Arsenal-leaning 2nd Bridge Soccer Pub.
“My parents are big fans of breweries, so they came here. And they were like, ‘Hey man, this is soccer-themed. You should come check it out.’ So I came in, and immediately, the owners were just so welcoming, even though I was unfortunately a City fan,” Garcia said.
Kobe White is a bartender and brewer who also got into 2nd Bridge Soccer Pub through his parent — owner Steven White.
“The soccer community is actually a really huge community in America. I just think it hasn't been looked at,” Kobe White said. “So we want to be here for everyone to just be able to come in, talk about the game, and just be, you know, a good community.”
White said during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, hosted in Qatar, the brewery would be open for all games, starting with the 6 a.m. overseas matches.
“We were open for Saudi Arabia vs. Argentina, and Saudi Arabia ended up winning 2-1,” he recalled, laughing. “We had four people just sitting here at 6 a.m. freaking out going, ‘Oh my god, Saudi Arabia beat them! What do we do?’ And we just kind of all celebrated.”
This time, it’s easier for the soccer pub to stream all World Cup matches since they’re played in North American time zones, making them afternoon or evening kickoff times.
Despite the rainy weather Friday, Pratt Street in Hartford was still packed with a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd in front of its large outdoor screen for the World Cup matches. Parkville Market also hosted a watch party Friday night and will continue to throughout the weekslong tournament. In New Haven, establishments like Barracuda Bistro, Trinity Bar and The Cannon will be open and offering food and drink specials during each game.
Some venues are hosting watch parties depending on who is playing, like Camacho Garage in New Haven, which will stream any Mexico or U.S. game along with happy hour specials. Danbury Mayor Roberto Alves, who is Brazilian and Portuguese, is hosting a series of specific watch parties in “a global city for a global game.”
Hartford Athletic had planned an outdoor screening at Trinity Health Stadium, which was canceled “due to unforeseen circumstances” the day before. The team said everyone who registered for a free watch party ticket will receive two complimentary tickets to a future Hartford Athletic home game.
What was at stake Game 1
The USMNT has never won the World Cup — while the U.S. Women’s National Team has won four — and are now trying to snag their first on home soil.
The first round is broken into groups of four teams each, lettered A to L, for a total of 48 countries playing 104 matches by the end of the six weeks.
Ahead of Friday’s win, sports news outlets, like Connecticut-based ESPN, reported that the U.S. was slightly favored to win not only its first match but Group D overall, which also includes Turkey and Australia.
NPR spoke with the USMNT’s former coach, Gregg Berhalter, about what to keep an eye out for ahead of the first game.
Learn more
The U.S. next faces Australia at 3 p.m. ET Friday, June 19 in Seattle. You can watch with other fans at the locations above, or tune in at home through FOX (and its subsidiary Tubi) for English and Telemundo for Spanish.
Update: This post has been updated to reflect the results of Friday’s game and the cancellation of Hartford Athletic’s watch party at Trinity Health Stadium.
