US Beats Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium in Next World Cup Game
The United States beat Paraguay 4-1 on Friday in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium, and the next world cup game came with the first US-based match of the tournament. The result was clean enough; the fan experience around it was not, with traffic, ticket checks, security and stadium prices defining the day as much as the score.
SoFi Stadium and the 4-1 score
Four goals were enough for the United States to put the match away, while Paraguay managed one in the opening US-based game of the World Cup. The game went largely without incident once it started, which gave the scoreboard room to matter more than the chaos outside the gates.
That outside picture was harder to miss. Los Angeles commissioned shuttle buses from transport hubs downtown, but suffocating traffic still built around the match on Friday and the gridlock lasted for several hours after the final whistle.
Security, tickets, and bags
Fans entering SoFi had to follow rules that left little margin for error. Any bag bigger than a wallet was barred unless it was see-through, and everyone had to pass through airport-style security before they got inside.
Ticketing added another layer. The FIFA app FWC2026 was the only accepted way to validate tickets, and screenshots or printouts did not work. That meant anyone arriving without the app working on their phone was out of luck at the entrance.
Prices and crowd control
Inside the stadium, the prices were hard to miss: a bottle of water cost $5.25, a small bag of crisps cost $5.75, and a beer could run as high as $21.50. Those numbers sat alongside the scale of the operation, with hundreds, if not thousands, of workers and volunteers acting as stewards at the opening game in Los Angeles.
Heavily armed officers from numerous agencies were everywhere around the stadium, and many agents walked with sniffer dogs. Fans were told not to pet the police dogs. With the United States set to host 78 of the 104 matches in this year's World Cup, Friday's first US-based game offered the clearest early look at how the tournament will be managed for spectators who have to navigate the same mix of security, transit and stadium rules.
