PHILADELPHIA — Eating a turkey sandwich on the floor of the press box at Lincoln Financial Field wasn’t exactly the welcome to the World Cup moment I envisioned upon learning I’d get to cover the globe’s biggest sporting event. Alas, that’s indeed where I found myself within an hour of Friday evening’s Brazil-Haiti match in the “...Read more

SEATTLE — The safe move is to take a breath and say “this is what was supposed to happen.”

The guarded thought is to understand that U.S. Soccer’s World Cup wins were akin to a 4 seed beating a 10 and a seven in an NCAA bracket.

Holding serve isn’t heroic. So maybe holding off on dreaming big is the smart play, right? Right???

Nah, ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Even if it feels a little staged, it makes for a fun and uniquely American angle to this World Cup.

I’m referring to the “Miracle on Ice,” said to inspire the folks who now aim to work a “Miracle on Grass.”

“Why not us?” asked United States soccer coach Mauricio Pochettino, evoking 1980, Lake Placid and Olympic gold...Read more

LOS ANGELES — How it started: A dream. A French machine-gun officer in the trenches during the First World War. A man named Jules Rimet, who believed an international soccer tournament would bring the nations together with the goal of peace.

How it's going: The world's biggest party. A 48-nation celebration of the world's most beloved sport. ...Read more

MIAMI — When the World Cup draw first came out, Sunday’s group stage game in Miami between two-time champion Uruguay and tournament debutant Cape Verde did not seem like a particularly compelling matchup.

By halftime on Sunday, that once humdrum-seeming matchup had captivated the 64,003 fans in attendance and become must-see TV for those ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Iran’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad World Cup got a lot better Sunday.

By playing Belgium to a scoreless draw before another packed house at SoFi Stadium, Iran is in position to win its group with a victory over Egypt on Friday and advance to the knockout stage for the first time.

That would be a just reward for a ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — By the time you read this, Philadelphia will have hosted two matches in the FIFA World Cup and will be steadfastly preparing for a third in quick succession come Monday.

France, a favorite by many to win the whole tournament, will take on Iraq in the second game of Group I, but if it’s anything like the previous two matches, ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Gonzalo Plata had seen enough.

Late in the second half of a 0-0 draw against Curaçao on Saturday at Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium, the Ecuador forward extended his right foot in frustration and kicked the goalpost after watching all 15 of his team’s shots on goal come up empty.

Ecuador had ample chances to earn a much...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Swaying to “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” and rocking to “Livin’ on a Prayer,” fans from the tiny island nation of Curaçao now have a soundtrack for their greatest sports moment.

Those songs blasted through the Kansas City (Arrowhead) Stadium public-address system in the moments after Curaçao put the finishing ...Read more

SEATTLE — In the aftermath of the latest triumph, defender Chris Richards spoke with a confidence rarely heard from the United States men’s national team.

It’s been earned with the way the U.S. has played through its first two matches of the FIFA Men’s World Cup.

“Obviously we take it one game at a time, but like I mentioned earlier,...Read more

MIAMI — Cape Verde, Africa’s third-smallest country, became one of the early darlings of the World Cup after holding European champion Spain to a scoreless draw in their opening match.

The hero of the game was Blue Sharks’ 40-year-old goalkeeper Josimar José Évora Dias, known as “Vozinha,” which means Granny in Portuguese. He was an...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — UNION STATION, 5 P.M. MONDAY — Bashir Belkacemi was strolling along the sidewalk of a downtown Kansas City street Monday evening, his first time here, when he stopped to talk to a local man wearing a collared shirt, slacks and dress shoes.

Five minutes passed, maybe 10, before the two parted ways. Belkacemi’s daughter ...Read more

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The United States’ red-hot national team is headed to the Bay Area for its first knockout stage match.

After the beating Australia in Seattle on Friday afternoon, the Americans simply needed Paraguay to draw with Turkiye at Levi’s Stadium on Friday night to secure a spot in Santa Clara on July 1 as a group winner.

...Read more

SEATTLE — Given Seattle’s love of its two-time Super Bowl champion football team and long history with the Green Bay Packers, there might have been a squint when looking at the Freeman name on the back of a U.S. men’s national team jersey Friday.

Three decades ago, Alex Freeman’s father Antonio scored two touchdowns for the Packers ...Read more

SEATTLE — The World Cup is only a little more than a week old, but it’s already a historic one for the U.S.

With Friday’s 2-0 win over Australia, the U.S. matched its best World Cup performance ever with two victories. Their six goals match the most the U.S. has ever scored in the group stage and its goal differential of plus-five is also...Read more