Fans cheer on US Men’s National Soccer Team as prep for World Cup

The Irvine Great Park’s giant air balloon sported a red, white and blue covering Monday morning as thousands of fans at the park’s Championship Soccer Stadium made clear their loyal enthusiasm.

“USA! USA! USA!”

Ahead of the US Men’s National Soccer Team’s June 12 opening World Cup match against Paraguay in Inglewood, the team has established base camp in Irvine and, for a day, fans who won a ticket lottery were offered a seat to view a morning training session.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off June 11, with 48 teams and 104 matches being played across the United States, Canada and Mexico. It will be the largest tournament in World Cup history.

Juan Reyes commuted an hour and a half from San Diego to bring his son, Adrian, 13, to watch his favorite team train.

The duo donned team colors and sat front-row on the pitch-side.

“Ever since San Diego got a professional team, we began watching soccer a lot more. So when Team USA came around, we couldn’t wait to get up here,” Reyes said.

“I hope the U.S. national team goes far and makes it into the championship rounds; let’s see what happens,” he said.

His son, Adrian, with a smile and eyes glued to the field, put his excitement succinctly: “We’re stoked!”

“I’m a big fan,” Anaheim resident Samantha Sanchez said of the team she showed up to support. “But I also played soccer growing up my whole life, so just love of the game for sure.”

Sanchez wants to see the team practice “rainbows,” she said — “basically a move where they put the ball in between their feet and they flick it up over their head.”

But she joked she wasn’t picky.

” I just want to see some cool moves,” she said. “I want to see what they’re going to do in the World Cup.”

Joanna Chen Ancelat said she’s been a fan of the national team since 2010, but being a host country with games played just to the north of her Orange County home, she’s even more excited for the World Cup.

“It’s exciting. It’s something to look forward to, where we could all unite and support our team,” she said.

As the players practiced Monday, the fans cheered them on, vying to catch stray balls that headed toward the stands.

Once their morning training wrapped up, some of the players went around and gave autographs.

“I think they’re taking it pretty easy today. They had a game (Saturday) and, playing against Germany, I’m sure that wasn’t easy,” Ancelat said of the friendly match played in Chicago. It was a tough match, she said, but lost 1-2 it must have boosted the players confidence.

“So it gave us some hope,” she said, “that they’ll move pretty far.”