The United States will open the 2026 World Cup with an opponent it had some fireworks with in November.

The USMNT drew Paraguay for their first match on June 12, 2026 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. When the two sides played a match that was supposed to be friendly on Nov. 15, tensions flared with a late-match brawl.

With the U.S. leading 2-1 in stoppage time, American defender Alex Freeman and Paraguay captain Gustavo Gómez both tried to pick up a ball that had gone out of bounds. The two began wrestling, Gómez put his arm around Freeman’s neck, and both benches cleared as a skirmish broke out.

“Obviously it was our throw-in,” Freeman told The Athletic, “so I was just going to grab the ball. And then he grabbed it at the same time. And … he kinda had me in a headlock, and I didn’t

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