The USMNT is two days from its World Cup opener against Paraguay in Los Angeles, and Mauricio Pochettino’s side is now in the final stretch before Friday night’s Group D kickoff. The countdown has turned the usa game into a live clock, with fans already looking past the warmup phase and toward what comes next.
That is why a new World Cup podcast episode is landing now. Alex Campbell opens the first in a special series with Alex Calabrese, giving supporters a place to listen as the tournament arrives in 2026 across the United States, Mexico and Canada. The timing matters because the team has already played a pair of warmup matches in Charlotte and at Soldier Field, but with kickoff so close, the real measure begins in LA.
For Chicago fans, the build-up is not limited to the screen. Free watch parties are set for each USA match, with the June 12 game against Paraguay at Utopian Tailgate, the June 19 meeting with Australia at Bub City and the June 25 match against Turkey at Joe’s on Weed. Special World Cup cocktails from Don Julio 1942, Casamigos and Buchanan’s are part of the draw, turning each night into a citywide gathering around the same team.
What is not being said is almost as important as what is. The source gives no results or assessment from the warmup matches in Charlotte and at Soldier Field, leaving the final read on Pochettino’s men to the opener itself. That silence keeps the focus on the schedule rather than the form, which is exactly where the pressure sits now.
So the next real checkpoint is clear: Friday night in Los Angeles, when the USMNT finally starts to answer the questions that the exhibition games have left open. Until then, the most concrete version of the usa game is the one on the calendar, and it is moving fast.
