The United States and Mexico had a dream start to a World Cup on their home soil.
Canada's first game wasn't too bad, either.
The Americans put an exclamation point on Friday's action with a 4-1 win over Paraguay in Inglewood, California, building a 3-0 lead by halftime and matching the biggest U.S. World Cup victory.
Folarin Balogun scored two goals and Giovanni Reyna added another in the final minute as the American team broke its record for goals in a World
Cup game. Christian Pulisic was the offensive catalyst in the first half before sitting out the second half for precautionary reasons after getting kicked in the left calf.
Earlier Friday, Canada rallied for a 1-1 draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto.
Cyle Larin — who had just entered the game — scored in the 78th minute to tie after the Canadians fought from behind for the majority of the afternoon. Bosnia's Jovo Lukic scored in the 21st minute with a nifty header off a corner kick, briefly quieting the home crowd.
The World Cup gets into the meat of its schedule starting Saturday — highlighted by an intriguing matchup between Brazil and Morocco. There are at least four games scheduled each day until June 27.
Mexico opened the tournament on Thursday with a dominant 2-0 win over South Africa in front of a boisterous crowd at Mexico City's Azteca Stadium.
Fox is the exclusive U.S. broadcaster of the World Cup with all 104 matches in English on Fox or FS1. All matches are also available on the Fox One app. Telemundo and Universo will broadcast all of the matches in Spanish. Peacock is the streaming home for Spanish-language broadcasts while Telemundo also has an app that includes all the matches.
— Qatar vs. Switzerland, 3 p.m. EDT in Santa Clara, California (FOX/Telemundo/Peacock)
— Brazil vs. Morocco, 6 p.m. EDT in East Rutherford, New Jersey (FOX/Telemundo/Peacock)
— Haiti vs. Scotland, 9 p.m. EDT in Foxborough, Massachusetts (FOX/Telemundo/Peacock)
— Australia vs. Turkey, midnight EDT in Vancouver, British Columbia (FS1/Telemundo/Peacock)
Qatar was an automatic qualifier for the 2022 World Cup because it was the host country, but earned its way into the field this time. Almoez Ali is the country's career scoring leader with 60 goals in 126 international appearances.
Switzerland qualified for its sixth straight World Cup and enters the tournament as the 19th-ranked team. The Swiss have never won a knockout-round game despite advancing out of their group three times. Switzerland is led by midfielder Granit Xhaka, who has 145 caps.
Brazil has one of the most historically successful teams, winning World Cups in 1958, 1962, 1970, 1994 and 2002. But the Brazilians haven't been quite as good over the last few decades, losing in the quarterfinals in four of the last five tournaments. They're still a formidable squad — ranked No. 6 coming into Saturday's match.
Morocco — the No. 7 team — is one of Africa's best squads and made World Cup history in 2022, reaching the semifinals before losing to France.
Two long World Cup droughts will end as Haiti takes on Scotland in both nation’s Group C opening match. Haiti is making its first appearance in the tournament since 1974. Scotland is back for the first time since 1998.
Haiti has never earned a World Cup point. Scotland will have a big boost as it attempts to earn its first point since a draw against Norway in 1998.
Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay, whose overhead kick in a win over Denmark in November sealed the Tartan Army’s World Cup qualification, is expected to be available after dealing with an illness.
Following disappointing showings by his team at the 2020 and 2024 European Championship, coach Steve Clarke said this group isn’t satisfied with just making it to another major tournament.
“Obviously, we know the last two tournaments haven’t gone the way that we wanted,” Clarke said Friday. “We have another chance. And that’s credit to the players that keep qualifying for these major tournaments. It’s great to be here, but we also want to do something special.”
Australia is making its sixth straight World Cup appearance and seventh overall. The Australians — ranked No. 27 — reached the round of 16 during the 2022 tournament before losing to eventual champion Argentina.
Turkey is back in the World Cup for the first time since 2002, when it finished third. It's been a country on the rise over the past few years and is up to No. 22 in the rankings.
The head of the Palestinian Football Association is waiting in Mexico City for permission to enter the United States with other federation heads attending the World Cup.
Jibril Rajoub went to the opening match between Mexico and South Africa on Thursday. But he is among several people accredited to attend the World Cup who have been denied visas or have yet to receive them from the United States.
The Palestinian team did not qualify for the World Cup, but FIFA typically invites the heads of football associations from around the world to the event every four years, which it frames as a celebration of global unity.
— A Bosnian song about disillusionment with the American Dream becomes a World Cup banger
— Soccer fans around the world watch the World Cup, in photos
— Visa denial sidelines Thomas Partey for Ghana’s World Cup opener against Panama in Toronto
— Mexico coach Javier Aguirre’s youth gamble sparks a victory in the World Cup’s opening match
— Roaring crowds in stars and stripes show up for the US team, and soccer’s moment in their country
— Canada had lost all of its six World Cup games before its draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
— Host countries improved their record in World Cup openers to 18 wins, one loss and seven draws. The only host to lose an opener was Qatar, 2-0 to Ecuador in 2022.
— The Americans' four goals were their most in a World Cup game.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
