It's safe to say that World Cup fever has hit San Jose, home to MLS side San Jose Earthquakes and the NHL's San Jose Sharks.

The city is just a stone's throw from the San Francisco Bay Area stadium in Santa Clara which ordinarily hosts the San Francisco 49ers NFL games.

At 20:00 BST on Saturday, Switzerland face Qatar in the first of six games to be played at the San Francisco Bay Area.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Mauricio Pochettino will be the first to point out that nothing has been won yet, but the Argentine manager will know that a start like this was absolutely pivotal for building both belief and momentum.

Prior to their opener it felt like Americans were largely indifferent about their country hosting a World Cup - in Los Angeles, the city where the USA played their opener, it was easy to be unaware that a major tournament was about to take place.

But that all changed on Friday as USA shirts dominated on the metro and in bars and coffee shops in the hours before kick-off.

A failure to win this and that passion and enthusiasm could have quickly been sapped, but instead it will likely be enhanced before their remaining two group games against Turkey and Australia.

Their dominance in the first half was highlighted by the fact they had 71% possession.

"They look a really dangerous team, they look fit, they look sharp, they look hungry," ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said on BBC Match of the Day following the USA's excellent first-half performance.

"When you are playing well the crowd get behind you. This is an intimidating stadium when the majority of the crowd are for you, that's for sure."

New York City is alive with excitement for the New York Knicks' winning run in the NBA play-offs after the team reached their first Finals since 1999.

The city erupted in celebration on Wednesday night after the Knicks came from 29 points down to beat the San Antonio Spurs and take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series - with the Knicks in line to claim their first Championship since 1973 if they beat the Spurs in Game 5 on Wednesday.

In among the basketball bliss, sports fans in the city found time to mark the opening game of Team USA's World Cup campaign on Friday.

Here are the scenes from watch parties that took place in the Big Apple as Mauricio Pochettino's side beat Paraguay 4-1.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Gett

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

American media is finally awash with news from the World Cup after the United States' men's national team (USMNT) made a stunning start to their campaign with a 4-1 win over Paraguay in Los Angeles.

Here's a round-up of the main headlines online:

• ESPN, external reports that the US "makes an opening statement on home soil"
• USA Today, external, meanwhile, describes the USMNT's World Cup opener as "an inspired performance"
• The New York Times, external, via the Athletic, says that USA "cruised to victory"
• While Fox, external reports that the excitement at Los Angeles Stadium was "impossible to miss"
• North of the border, Canada's Globe and Mail, external describes their national team's 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto as "the greatest draw in national history"
• In other news, the Boston Globe, external has felt the need to explain to its readers why "Scottish soccer fans in Boston are singing the ‘Cheers’ theme"

NB: Scotland begin their World Cup campaign against Haiti in Boston at 02:00 BST (Sunday, 14 June)

Image source, Getty Images

The USA's game at Los Angeles stadium also marked an end to this World Cup's triple-header of opening ceremonies.

Katy Perry, Tyla and Future were among the stars to perform.

Michael Buble - who knew he worked outside of the Christmas period? - and Alanis Morissette took centre stage for Canada.

And it was Shakira, back at a World Cup for a fourth time, who kicked things off in Mexico.

But which nation did it better?

Image source, Getty Images

It's easy to be dismissive of the USA's result against a nation in Paraguay that aren't expected to pull up too many trees at the World Cup.

But Paraguay caused problems - and earned big results - during qualifying for the tournament.

Paraguay recorded home wins against Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay to finish sixth in a very tight CONMEBOL qualification process.

They were level on points with Brazil and Uruguay and just a point shy of second-placed Ecuador.

Image source, Getty Images

If there were any doubts that the USA were ready to live up to the pressure of being one of the hosts of the 2026 World Cup, they were dispelled in 45 brilliant minutes against Paraguay on Saturday.

Following a glitzy build-up which featured a performance from Katy Perry, watched on by Hollywood A-listers like Tom Cruise in the stands and with thousands of fans decked out in the stars and stripes, they would have been forgiven for wilting under the pressure.

Instead they stepped up as three goals in a whirlwind first half, before a sublime fourth by Gio Reyna in stoppage time, secured a 4-1 win to ensure a perfect start in Group D.

But even before this display there were some who had recognised the potential of a USA side who have developed significantly under ex-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino over the past 20 months.

Former USA goalkeeper Tony Meola is one pundit who has suggested they are now on their way to being able to rub shoulders with football's elite.

"Now we are so much more established," said Meola, who was part of the US squad at the 1990, 1994 and 2002 World Cups.

"We have players playing all round the world, we have an incredible league and have facilities the world is using right now. Those were a pipe dream a few years ago, now we are a football nation."

Did anyone use BBC Sport's brand-new Fifa World Cup 3D Experience for last night's games?

If you missed our plug for it yesterday, then it allows you to see a World Cup match from every angle,have a full-pitch tactical view, and even see the match through the eyes of a player.

This is a UK-first that is only available on BBC Sport.

The interactive game experience gives viewers more choice to explore the match both in real-time, highlights and full-match replays.

To go back and watch the highlights, or just to get you prepared for tonight's games - head to bbc.co.uk/3dWorldCup to get started.

BBC 5 Live Breakfast

Neil McGuiness, LAFC's Scottish technical director, told 5 Live Breakfast he had not seen American fans come out in such numbers to support the national team before, following their 4-1 victory over Paraguay in front of more than 70,000 supporters in Los Angeles:

"Confidence wise, not only have they gone out and scored four goals, the nation has definitely got a boost from that.

"The scenes outside [the stadium in] LA, I don't know how much you saw outside, but it was incredible. The streets are packed. I've not seen US fans come out in those numbers before.

"I think every player tonight has gone to bed super happy and ready for the next one."

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Last night marked quite the moment for Folarin Balogun as he became just the second US player to score more than once in a World Cup match.

The 24-year-old was born in New York but moved to England when he was just one-month-old and came through the ranks at Arsenal's academy.

Promoted to the first team in 2020, Balogun found opportunities hard to come by with the Gunners.

And after making just two Premier League appearances, he was sent on loan to Middlesbrough and then Reims, where he finally broke through.

Balogun's 21-goal haul in Ligue 1 during the 2022-23 season earned him a £35m move to Monaco in the summer of 2023.

That same year, he also switched international allegiance to the US despite playing for England age group sides all the way through to under-21s, earning 13 caps at that level.

Balogun has carried his club form into the World Cup after finishing the 2025-26 season with nine goals in 13 league matches for Monaco and, with this display, showed he has the quality to lead the US attack in the tournament.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Canada substitute Cyle Larin made an instant impact as his goal rescued a point for the co-hosts as they began their 2026 World Cup campaign with a draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Southampton striker Larin had only been on the pitch for just over two minutes when he superbly spun away from Tarik Muharemovic and fired past Nikola Vasilj, aided by a slight deflection.

It was the first time Canada had avoided defeat in the World Cup finals, after they had been beaten in all three games in 1986 and then again in 2022.

Bosnia, who gained penalty shootout wins in the qualifying play-offs over Wales and then Italy to secure their place in North America, took a 21st-minute lead in Toronto.

Jovo Lukic grabbed his first goal for his country when he headed in after ex-Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac had flicked on Ivan Basic's corner.

Canada nearly equalised early in the second half as Richie Laryea's shot was going in, only for Kolasinac to produce an excellent clearance by diverting the ball on to the crossbar and away.

The hosts pushed for a leveller and had another good opportunity, only for Nikola Katic to clear off the line from Tani Oluwaseyi's goal-bound header.

But, in a thrilling end-to-end match, Canada got a deserved equaliser in the 78th minute for their first ever World Cup draw.

Read the report here.

Image source, Getty Images

The United States opened their World Cup campaign with an impressive 4-1 victory against Paraguay as former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun struck twice to inspire the co-hosts to an assured start in Los Angeles.

Balogun became just the second US player to score more than once in a World Cup match, after Bert Patenaude - who netted the tournament's first-ever hat-trick in the inaugural 1930 edition, also against Paraguay.

It is also the US' joint-biggest win at a World Cup - matching the 3-0 victories against Paraguay and Belgium in 1930, when they finished third.

It took the home side just seven minutes to open the scoring in the Group D opener in front of their vocal supporters, courtesy of an own goal from Paraguay's Damian Bobadilla.

Christian Pulisic, however, was the architect, squeezing between two defenders with a quick burst of pace before feeding Weston McKennie, whose cutback was inadvertently turned into his own net by Bobadilla.

Monaco striker Balogun opened his account after latching on to a pass from Pulisic, before pulling the US further ahead, pouncing on a through ball from Malik Tillman and escaping a challenge from Sunderland defender Omar Alderete before curling past goalkeeper Orlando Gill to find the top corner.

Paraguay struck next against the run of play through Brazilian-born Mauricio, who was slipped in by former Brighton forward Julio Enciso and slotted past Matt Freese.

The US victory was capped off with the goal of the night from substitute Giovanni Reyna, who curled a 20-yard shot home with the outside of his right foot with the final kick of the game.

Read the report here.

Shaimaa Khalil
LA Correspondent at LA Coliseum Stadium Fan Festival

What a match this turned out to be! I must say I was the sceptic among the thousands of fans in the Fan Festival zone in LA.

“Do you really think they’re going to do well and score?” I asked one fan as he shouted "USA! ‘this is our destiny!"

The fans here had faith in the team – there’s been a lot of anticipation and a lot of pressure on Mauricio Pochettino and his squad, and the USA delivered a historical first victory.

The Los Angeles Times features a picture of the USA team celebrating in the Los Angeles Stadium under the headline "House swarming".

It adds that two-goal hero Folarin Balogun "leads a dominant US" as the host nation "seizes the moment" in their opening 4-1 win over Paraguay.

Image source, Los Angeles Times

We've now seen all three co-hosts in action over the past two days - but who goes furthest in the competition?

Here's a reminder of their results if you need a little inspiration:

Mexico 2-0 South Africa

Canada 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

USA 4-1 Paraguay