Conspiracy theorists bizarrely claimed that the World Cup is rigged in favor of the United States after two early goals left the hosts in dreamland on Friday night.
The USMNT played Paraguay in their opening Group D match at a packed SoFi Stadium, and the tournament couldn’t have started any better on home soil.
Inside seven minutes, Paraguay midfielder Damian Bobadilla scored an own goal, inadvertently poking the ball past his own goalkeeper to send the home fans wild.
But while America rejoiced, some sour soccer fans claimed that the tournament is rigged to ensure the host nation progresses from the group stages.
‘This s*** rigged to make America look good,’ one viewer wrote on X, while another added: ‘Clearly rigged. Literally paid the other team to kick it into their own net. Disgusting team.’
A third said, quite simply: ‘THIS IS RIGGED.’
Christian Pulisic looks emotional as he celebrates the USA going two goals up vs Paraguay
Folarin Balogun scored the second goal but some viewers claimed the tournament is rigged
There is, of course, no evidence to suggest that any of the on-field action is predetermined, with host nations often receiving a boost by the presence of their fans inside the stadium.
On Friday night, SoFi Stadium was full of 70,000 patriots cheering on their team, and shortly after the first goal things got even better for the hosts.
With 31 minutes on the clock, Monaco striker Folarin Balogun – one of the young stars of Mauricio Pochettino’s team – added a second goal for the USA.
The second was perhaps even more satisfying for American fans, who were finally able to celebrate one of their own players putting the ball into the back of the net.
Balogun wheels away in celebration after scoring past the Paraguay goalkeeper in LA
The US going deep in the tournament would be a huge boost for soccer in America
Prior to Friday, it had been 32 years since the World Cup was last played in the United States, and the tournament has been projected to significantly improve the popularity of soccer in America.
That will, of course, be helped by the US national team going deep into the tournament, and according to the FIFA rankings they are the best team of the four in Group D.
