The co-hosts get their tournament under way. The United States open their home World Cup against Paraguay, a matchday-one fixture that carries all the pressure of a nation watching and expecting a fast start.
For the USMNT, this is the night the talking stops. After a build-up measured in friendlies and projections, the real tournament begins against opponents who will be anything but accommodating.
The hosts and the weight of home
Playing a World Cup at home is a privilege and a burden in equal measure. The crowd, the expectation, and the sense that anything less than escaping the group would feel like a failure — all of it lands on this opening fixture.
The USA's attacking talent is their calling card. The wide areas and the pace on the break give them genuine threat against most opponents, and on a big occasion in front of a home crowd, that front-foot energy is their most likely route to a positive start.
The recurring question sits in their defensive transitions. The USMNT have shown they can hurt good teams; they have also shown they can be hurt themselves when the back line is caught flat. Against a Paraguay side that will look to be compact and clinical, tightening that area is the brief.
Managing the occasion is its own challenge. A home opener brings adrenaline that can tip into anxiety, and the early exchanges will tell us whether the hosts settle quickly or let the nerves of the moment dictate the opening half-hour.
Paraguay, the awkward opener
Paraguay are exactly the kind of opponent a host nation does not want first up. Organised, physical, and difficult to break down, they specialise in making games scrappy and denying more expansive teams the rhythm they crave.
The danger for the USA is being drawn into a frustrating, low-tempo contest — the sort of match where the favourites dominate possession but find few clear openings, and one lapse can cost them. Paraguay will be comfortable defending deep, soaking up pressure, and looking to nick the game on a set piece or a counter.
For an opening fixture, that profile makes Paraguay a genuine test of the hosts' patience as much as their quality.
The South American side will also relish the underdog framing. With the spotlight fixed on the co-hosts, Paraguay can play with the freedom of a team nobody expects to win, and that mindset has unsettled bigger names before.
What the USA need from matchday one
The goal is simple: start with points. As co-hosts with ambitions of a deep run, the USMNT need to escape their group, and an opening win against the side many would view as the most beatable in their section is the kind of result that sets the tone for everything after.
A fast start would settle the home crowd and the players alike. A slow one, against opponents who thrive on frustration, could turn the occasion tense. The margin between those outcomes may come down to whether the USA can find an early breakthrough or are forced to chase a stubborn Paraguay side late.
The verdict
This is a winnable opener, but not a gimme. Paraguay have the organisation to make it uncomfortable, and the USA's task is to combine their attacking threat with the defensive discipline that has sometimes deserted them.
Get it right, and the co-hosts launch their tournament with momentum and a settled crowd behind them. Get it wrong, and the pressure of a home World Cup ratchets up immediately. For the USMNT, opening night is about more than three points — it is about setting the tone.
Kickoff XI is an independent publication and is not affiliated with FIFA.
