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Sports Nov 21, 2022
Pre World Cup Russia 2018 | Courtesy of Fauzan Saari
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Free watch parties for the broadcasts of the U.S.’ opening game of the 2022 World Cup will be held Monday at Dignity Health Sports Park and several other locations in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
Doors to Dignity Health Sports Park’s Legends Plaza will open at 10 a.m. with Fox’s English-language and Telemundo’s Spanish-language broadcast of the Group B game against Wales from Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar beginning at 11 a.m. Drink specials will be available.
The LA Galaxy will hold its second equipment sale of the year in Legends Plaza, beginning at 10 a.m. with proceeds benefiting the LA Galaxy Foundation. The Galaxy team store will be open from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Following the game, fans will have an opportunity to sign up for a tour of Dignity Health Sports Park. Space is limited, but Galaxy season ticket members will have an opportunity to reserve a spot on the tour.
A toy and book drive conducted by the LA Galaxy Foundation and Dignity Health Sports Park’s ASCSC Community Foundation begins Monday and runs through Dec. 12. Fans are asked to bring new unwrapped toys and books for the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots and Carson’s Sheriff Department Toy Drive.
The toys will be delivered to children in need ages 2-13 who live in Carson and the surrounding area.
The Los Angeles Football Club will host a watch party at Santa Monica Brew Works with doors opening at 10 a.m. The party will include food and drink specials, LAFC and partner giveaways and a chance to see the MLS Cup trophy.
Both the U.S. and Wales include an LAFC player on their rosters — U.S. midfielder Kellyn Acosta and Wales forward Gareth Bale.
Parties organized by various chapters of American Outlaws, a nationwide support group for the U.S. men’s and women’s national soccer teams, will be held at Lopez & Lefty’s in Anaheim; Arrow Lodge Brewing in Covina; The Surly Goat in Encino; Underdogs Sports Bar in Glendale; Underground Pub & Grill in Hermosa Beach and Legends Sports Bar in Long Beach.
Underdogs Sports Bar will also show Monday’s other two World Cup games — the Group B game between England and Iran beginning at 5 a.m. and the Group A game between Senegal and Netherlands that starts at 8 a.m. It will open at 4:30 a.m.
The game will be the first World Cup game for the U.S. since July 1, 2014, when it lost 2-1 to Belgium in overtime in the round of 16. The U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Defender DeAndre Yedlin is the only U.S. player with previous World Cup experience. The average age of the 26-player U.S. roster is 25 years, 175 days, the second-youngest U.S. roster at a World Cup, behind only the 1990 roster, whose average age at the start of play was 24 years, 24 days. The U.S. lost all three of its games at the 1990 World Cup, its first since 1950.
The U.S. roster includes nine players 23 and under.
Two players are from the Los Angeles area. Midfielder Cristian Roldan is an alumnus of El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera. Forward Haji Wright played for the LA Galaxy Academy from 2012-15, then signed with the New York Cosmos, then of the Division II North American Soccer League, on March 30, 2015, three days after his 17th birthday.
The U.S. team consists of nine players who play in Major League Soccer, six in England’s Premier League, two each in Germany, Italy, Spain and the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, and one each in France, Scotland and Turkey.
Wales is playing in the World Cup for the second time and first since 1958 when it reached the quarterfinals. The Dragons were the 30th of the 32 teams to earn a berth in the World Cup, defeating Ukraine, 1-0, June 5, on Bale’s goal in the 34th-minute of the 90-minute game.
Wales’ roster consists of nine players who play in the Premier League, eight in the Championship, two in France, two each in English Football League League One and EFL League Two, the third and fourth tiers of the English football league system, and one each in MLS, Italy and Scotland.
U.S. defenders Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson are teammates with Welsh midfielder Harry Wilson and forward Daniel James with Fulham of the Premier League. U.S. goalkeeper Ethan Horvath and Dragons defender Tom Lockyer are teammates with Luton Town in the Championship.
The U.S. is 16th in the rankings compiled by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, Wales is 19th.
The ABC News-owned data prediction website FiveThirtyEight.com gives the U.S. a 45% chance of winning, Wales a 26% chance with a 29% chance of the game ending in a tie.
Each team plays three games in group play. The top two teams in each of the eight four-team groups advance to the single-elimination portion of the tournament.
