Okay, real talk: today is the day a lot of us circled the second the 2026 World Cup draw dropped. The USA men’s national team plays its opener against Paraguay tonight at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood — and as someone who spends an unhealthy amount of time mapping where movies were shot, I can’t get over one detail. The U.S. is launching its home World Cup in the single most-filmed city on Earth: Los Angeles. So let’s do both. I’ll tell you exactly how to watch USMNT vs Paraguay, then hand you a filming-location game plan for the city wrapped around that stadium.
Table of Contents
USA vs Paraguay: how to watch the World Cup 2026 opener
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Match | USA vs Paraguay — World Cup 2026 group-stage opener |
| Date | Friday, June 12, 2026 |
| Kickoff | 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM PT |
| Venue | SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California |
| TV | FOX (English) · Telemundo (Spanish) |
| Free stream | Tubi (free) · Fox Sports app |
So you’ve got no excuse to miss it — it’s literally free on Tubi. You can check the official lineups on the FIFA World Cup 2026 site right up to kickoff. My prediction? I think the USMNT rides the home crowd to an early goal and SoFi absolutely erupts. Don’t quote me if it goes to penalties and I age ten years.
SoFi Stadium: a $5-billion spaceship that’s used to the spotlight
Here’s the fun part for a filming-locations nerd like me. SoFi only opened in 2020, but it has already hosted Super Bowl LVI, the College Football Playoff title game, WrestleMania, and the biggest concert tours on the planet. A World Cup opener under those translucent panels feels less like a debut and more like the venue flexing again. If you ask me, it’s the flashiest stadium in the entire tournament — sorry, everybody else.
While you’re in LA, you’re literally standing on a movie set
This is where Los Angeles smokes every other host city. You can’t walk two blocks here without tripping over a place you’ve seen on screen. A few of my favorites to hit between matches:
- Griffith Observatory — La La Land, Rebel Without a Cause, and The Terminator all used it. The view of the city at dusk is unreal.
- Union Station — Blade Runner, The Dark Knight Rises, and Catch Me If You Can. Old-Hollywood architecture that still works overtime.
- Bradbury Building — that dreamy atrium from Blade Runner and (500) Days of Summer.
- Venice Beach & the Hollywood Sign — the postcards that basically invented “California on film.”
I could go on for days, honestly. We’ve catalogued hundreds of shoots across the city — dive into our full Los Angeles filming locations archive, or zoom out to all of California if you’re road-tripping up the coast.
Then & now: LA’s last World Cup vs. this one
Quick history nerd moment. The last time Los Angeles hosted World Cup soccer was 1994, when the Rose Bowl in Pasadena staged the Final (Brazil over Italy on penalties — brutal). That same Rose Bowl has doubled as a film and TV backdrop for decades. Fast-forward to 2026 and the action has moved 25 miles south to a stadium that didn’t exist back then. The city’s other constant across all those years? Hollywood kept rolling cameras the entire time. We even mapped the FIFA Women’s World Cup locations back in 2023, and you can see how this is becoming a whole genre for us.
Upcoming at SoFi & around LA
Tonight is just the opener for this venue. SoFi is hosting multiple World Cup 2026 group-stage matches plus knockout-round action through July, so LA stays buzzing all summer. For the locked-in match dates and times at SoFi, the official FIFA fixtures page is your friend. My move: catch a match, then spend the off-days ticking filming spots off your list.
Frequently asked questions
What time is USA vs Paraguay today?
Kickoff is 9:00 PM ET (6:00 PM PT) on Friday, June 12, 2026, at SoFi Stadium.
What channel is the USA World Cup game on?
FOX in English and Telemundo in Spanish. You can also stream it free on Tubi or via the Fox Sports app.
Where is USA vs Paraguay being played?
SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, just outside Los Angeles, California.
Has SoFi Stadium been in movies?
It’s a newer venue, so it’s better known for the Super Bowl and huge concerts than for film shoots — but the surrounding Los Angeles area is the most-filmed place in the world.
What filming locations are near SoFi Stadium?
Griffith Observatory, Union Station, the Bradbury Building, Venice Beach, and the Hollywood Sign are all an easy drive away. Browse our LA filming locations guide for more.
Discover more from A2Z Filming Location
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.