After Mexico on Thursday and Canada in the early afternoon, the World Cup kicks off Friday night in the United States with a match between Paraguay and the American team, which is looking for enthusiasm but is being snubbed by Donald Trump.

Thirty-two years after the 1994 edition organized solely on their territory, the United States is once again hosting the major "soccer" competition with this extraordinary 48-team tournament, including Team USA, which hopes to finally generate public enthusiasm.

The American World Cup will be launched with a very local show, featuring pop star Katy Perry and rapper Future, in the Los Angeles stadium with its more than 70,000 seats, the usual home of the Rams and Chargers of the NFL, the American football championship immensely more popular than the MLS.

A central figure in a World Cup dominated so far by non-sporting issues, Donald Trump will not be making the trip for the opening match of the main host country, where he will be represented by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

- "A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" -

In Los Angeles, occupied by its eternal traffic jams, there are few signs indicating the imminence of the kick-off of the World Cup, eight matches of which will be played in Inglewood (south of LA), far from the iconic neighborhoods of the City of Angels (Santa Monica, Hollywood, Downtown...).

To ignite the flame, a dozen fan zones will take turns throughout this sprawling urban area during the tournament.

"I think we have all been, I wouldn't say overwhelmed but pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm surrounding the team," says veteran defender Tim Ream (38), aware that this World Cup remains "the opportunity of a lifetime," which comes with "more expectations and pressure."

Earlier this week, Argentina's highly regarded coach Mauricio Pochettino grabbed the microphone during a training session open to the public to lead "USA, USA" chants in front of 5,500 enthusiastic spectators at the team's base camp in Irvine, California.

Christian Pulisic and his teammates hope to finally benefit from the enthusiasm usually generated by host nations. In last year's Gold Cup final, they lost in Houston in a stadium packed with Mexican fans, after already succumbing to the opposing supporters in the semi-final against Guatemala.

While the United States is full of "soccer" fans, especially of the Premier League, they are partly descended from immigrants and have never seen their men's national team shine, unlike the women's team, which has been a four-time world champion.

The situation has changed radically since the 1994 World Cup, in a country where infrastructure has developed in connection with the local championship, the MLS, which attracted 11.2 million spectators in 2025.

MLS continues to attract aging stars to support its growth, with Lionel Messi for the past three years, and manages to launch some young local talents, although they remain far from European standards.

- To do better than in 2022 -

The United States hopes to achieve a historic performance, having never progressed beyond the quarter-finals in the modern era (in 2002, eliminated by Germany) and last reaching the round of 16 in Qatar in 2022.

Protected by a top seed status as co-host of the tournament, the American team plays in Group D with Australia, Turkey and Paraguay, its first opponent, whom it had dominated 2-1 in a friendly match in November.

Pochettino will face a compatriot on Friday on the Albirroja bench, Gustavo Alfaro, who has built a solid defence combined with some creative elements, such as Strasbourg's Julio Enciso.

"We have rediscovered our identity, serenity and solidity in defense, aggression in midfield and efficiency in attack," former goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert, an icon of Paraguay, who has not played in the World Cup since 2010, told AFP.