The 2026 FIFA World Cup has now officially kicked off — pun intended — and the U.S. Men’s National Team is set to hit the field Friday night.
Here in Connecticut, you can still have the soccer stadium experience for Friday’s game in Hartford. The city’s professional soccer team, Hartford Athletic, is hosting what it says could be the state’s largest watch party 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.
What’s at stake
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.
Sports news outlets, like Connecticut-based ESPN, are reporting that the U.S. is slightly favored to win not only this 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 during Friday’s game.
Learn more
The U.S. and Paraguay face off in Los Angeles, making this a night game in Eastern Time. Gates at Trinity Health Stadium in Hartford will open at 8 p.m. with a 9 p.m. kickoff on-screen.
As of Thursday afternoon, there are still free tickets available via SeatGeek. Hartford Athletic is planning an even larger watch party for the World Cup Final on July 19. In New Haven, establishments like Barracuda Bistro, Trinity Bar and The Cannon will be open and offering food and drink specials during each game.
If you’re looking for a smaller venue in Hartford, nearby Pratt Street and Parkville Market are also hosting watch parties on Friday night and throughout the weekslong tournament. Or tune in at home through FOX (and its subsidiary Tubi) for English and Telemundo for Spanish.
