Updated 08.30 | Published 05.04
American dream start, celebrities in the stands and a cheeky coup against England’s national team.
A few things happened in North America last night as well.
Here are the hottest things from the WC.
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Tonight’s World Cup match: USA–Paraguay 4–1
The USA is to be reckoned with in the WC. In the night’s opener against Paraguay, it was complete American dominance as the home team ran over their opponent in the first half.
Folarin Balogun scored two of the goals as the USA went from 3–0 down to later winning 4–1.
Read more about the match here.
Famous at the US premiere
President Donald Trump snubbed the USA’s first World Cup match, but there were plenty of other celebrities who wanted to watch it.
In the stands, for example, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña were on each side of Fifa President Gianni Infantino. In connection with the match, they met to discuss cooperation between the countries.
A large group of other celebrities were also at Sofi Stadium.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Paris Hilton, Jamie Foxx, Vince Vaughn, Teyana Taylor, Owen Wilson, Halle Berry, Joey Graziadei, Sofia Vergara, Rob Lowe, Tyler Cameron, Tom Brady, Shaboozey and IShowSpeed - to name a few.
Influencer IShowSpeed was booed when he was shown on the arena’s big screen.
Katy Perry was also there as she was one of the artists who performed at the inauguration. During the match, she sat in the stands with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is also her boyfriend.
Of course, a long line of people with football connections were also present. Among others Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is an expert in Fox WC broadcasts, and David Beckham.
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VAR was behind historic decision
In the match between the USA and Paraguay, VAR was used in a completely new way.
The referee chose to remove a caution from USA’s Tim Read, which he was awarded for bringing down Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón. Instead, Almirón received a yellow card for filming.
It was the first time ever that the VAR room intervened in such a situation, as VAR has been given increased powers during the World Cup.
England shaken by brazen theft
As usual, the English national team comes to the WC with hopes of winning gold. But the upload in Kansas City is off to a bad start.
The first practice at Swope Soccer Village is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, local time, but during the night, Swedish time, bad news came.
Daily Mail reports that the van carrying football boots, balls and other essential equipment has been looted. England’s football association is said to suspect that the drivers are involved in the theft.
Read more here.
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Behind the scenes at the premiere in Canada
Sportbladet’s reporter Makoto Asahara writes a WC diary and takes you behind the scenes during the championship.
On Saturday, he was in Toronto where host nation Canada drew 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina. As the clock approached midnight, Swedish time, the players went through the mixed zone, but not many Bosnians wanted to stop and talk.
At least a couple of the Swedish-Bosnians talked. Dennis Hadžikadunić experienced the biggest game of his life, despite remaining on the bench for 90 minutes.
Read more here.
Criticism of the water sprinklers
During the World Cup, hydration breaks are mandatory during the matches. Three minutes in the middle of each half where the players can drink, rest and talk tactics and where the commercial broadcasters can show commercials.
In the match between Canada and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the sprinklers went into action and watered the grass during the break in the middle of the second half. This was criticized by the expert Bastian Schweinsteiger in the German ARD broadcast.
– The ball slides faster and as a player you have to adjust, he says.
Read more here.
