World Cup overview
Neuendorf rejects criticism, Brazil’s star striker is out
June 13, 2026 – 5:45 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
The USA is off to a strong start to the tournament. A striker even scores twice. What else happened on the first night of the tournament.
Dream start for the USA: The co-host started the home World Cup with a lot of momentum and a very convincing win against Paraguay. In the 4:1 (3:0) in Inglewood near Los Angeles, double goalscorer Folarin Balogun (31st minute/45th+5) and Giovanni Reyna (90th+8) created an exuberant atmosphere after an own goal from Damian Bobadilla (7th). Mauricio only managed a consolation goal for the South Americans (73′). Numerous celebrities such as Tom Cruise, David Beckham and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio watched the game in the stands.
This means that all three hosts made it into the XXL tournament very well to well. Mexico won the opening game against South Africa 2-0, Canada drew 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina after coming from behind on Friday evening.
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These are the other most important topics of the World Cup night:
World Cup with 228 teams? Infantino angers Italy with joke
That didn’t go down well in Italy: Fifa President Gianni Infantino sparked criticism with a joking remark about the four-time soccer world champion’s great World Cup misery. In an interview with the Brazilian broadcaster CazéTV, Infantino spoke about the renewed failure of the Italian national team in the World Cup qualification when he said with a grin about a possible increase in the World Cup to 64 teams: “Maybe Italy will qualify for a World Cup with 64 teams – or we can even go up to 228 teams.”
- World Cup 2026: All information in the news blog
According to the Italian news agency Ansa, Italy’s Sports Minister Andrea Abodi appeared irritated and announced that he wanted to talk to the FIFA boss.
DFB too reserved? Neuendorf defends himself
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf has rejected criticism of his reticence in the sports policy arena surrounding the World Cup. You can “be sure that I will address these issues,” said the 64-year-old on Friday (local time) in New York. However, he pointed out that it requires “tact and diplomacy”: “It doesn’t help if I bring everything I know to the market.”