Day 2 Is Where We Find Out If the Hosts Can Actually Handle This + Day 1 Recap
Canada's missing Davies for their historic home opener, and the USMNT's defense is about to get tested by a team that already took down Argentina and Brazil. Plus: Day 1 recap for those who need it!
Day 1 was easy. Mexico got to play their World Cup opener in their own building, in front of their own people, and they took care of business. Nice and clean. No drama.
Day 2 is different. Today, the spotlight shifts to the other two co-hosts, and both of them are walking into something MUCH deeper than what they’re thinking.
(FOR THOSE THAT DIDN’T WATCH THE GAMES FROM DAY 1, QUICK RECAP AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE.)
Canada has never won a World Cup game. Ever.
Canada is 0-6 across their appearances in 1986 and 2022. Zero wins. Six losses. That’s the entire history of Canadian men’s soccer at this tournament, and now they’re opening their first-ever home World Cup against Bosnia and Herzegovina at BMO Field in Toronto.
This is supposed to be a feel-good story. Home crowd, first-ever host nation appearance, and a golden opportunity to finally get on the board. This is genuinely a lifetime opportunity for Canada to score their first World Cup points.
But here’s why it isn’t. Alphonso Davies is officially ruled out. Jesse Marsch confirmed it himself. Davies is healing well from his hamstring injury but isn’t at 100 percent yet. Stephen Eustáquio will captain the side in his place, and Marsch says Davies should be ready by the second or third group game, but not today.
By the way, Davies isn’t just a soccer player for Canada. He’s the guy who scored Canada’s first-ever World Cup goal back in 2022. He’s Canada’s best player. And on the biggest day in Canadian soccer history. The day they finally get to host a men’s World Cup match on home soil, he’s going to be watching from the sideline.
Canada still has a fighting chance. Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan, and Richie Laryea are still very good players. But this tournament just got way harder for them.
Either this team finds a way to shake off four decades of World Cup uselessness in front of their own fans, without their best player and without their captain... or “first home World Cup” turns into “still winless, and we didn’t even have Davies” by sundown.
Then there’s the other half of Day 2. USA vs. Paraguay at SoFi Stadium, and oh my god, this one's been building for months.
At a press conference back in March, the word “pressure” came up 16 times, and it wasn’t reporters asking about it. These were the players bringing it up themselves. The team has been framing the weight of hosting as a feature, not a problem. They’re acting cool and confident. But we’ve heard that before from teams that didn’t back it up.
Here’s an interesting stat. The USMNT has let up multiple goals in four straight matches and hasn’t kept a clean sheet since last September. That’s a pattern. Pochettino’s system has the fullbacks pushing high to win the ball in dangerous areas, and it’s produced goals, but it’s also left the defense exposed both times it’s been tested against real competition.
Now pair that with what Paraguay brings. Paraguay leans heavily on defensive structure, high work rate, and physicality rather than attacking dynamism, even with talented pieces like Almiron and Enciso in the squad. And remember, this is a team that stunned Argentina and Brazil on their way to qualifying. They show results against teams that are supposed to beat them.
If the USA comes out trying to press high and leaves gaps behind, against a Paraguay side built to sit, absorb, and pounce on mistakes? Well, say goodbye to all those hopes, Team USA.
History gives us both versions of how this goes for host nations. South Korea in 2002 rode home advantage all the way to the semifinals. South Africa in 2010 became the first host nation ever to be eliminated in the group stage.
Canada and the USA are both looking right down that path, but just from different angles. Canada needs anything. It could be a draw or even a single goal to start rewriting a history of nothing but losses, and now they have to do it without the one player who raises their ceiling more than anyone else. The USA needs to prove that a defense that’s been bleeding goals for nine months won’t get exposed on the biggest stage.
By tonight, we’ll know a lot more about which version of this World Cup the hosts are writing.
Day 1 Recap:
Mexico beat South Africa 2-0, and South Korea came back from 0-1 down to beat Czechia 2-1. So Day 1 was wild, just not for the usual reasons.
Mexico took care of business at home, but oh my god, that game had everything except a clean scoreline. Julián Quiñones opened the scoring early off a sloppy South African giveaway, and Raúl Jiménez added his first-ever World Cup goal in the second half, an emotional moment for the 35-year-old. But the real story was the cards. South Africa had two players sent off (Sithole for denying a goal-scoring chance, Zwane for lashing out after a VAR review), and Mexico’s César Montes got a late red too. Three red cards in a World Cup opener, the most in tournament history. Mexico was the better team start to finish, but this one will be remembered for the chaos.
The nightcap in Guadalajara was the actual game of the day. South Korea and Czechia went into halftime scoreless despite Korea dominating the shot count, and then it got fun. Krejčí put Czechia ahead off a set piece, Korea answered almost immediately through Hwang In-beom, who cut inside and chipped a finish into the corner. Then, in the closing stretch, substitute Oh finished off a cross from Hwang to complete the comeback and give Korea a 2-1 win. Hwang walked away with a goal and an assist, joining a short list of Koreans to do that at a World Cup. A wild finish, and honestly, the better watch of the two Day 1 games.