Kickoff times are Eastern. Channels, times, and team news confirmed the morning of June 12, 2026.
Day 1 went about as well as the hosts could have scripted. Mexico beat South Africa 2-0 behind goals from Julián Quiñones and Raúl Jiménez, in an opener that somehow produced three red cards, the most ever in a World Cup match. Later in Guadalajara, South Korea came from behind to beat Czechia 2-1, with substitute Oh Hyeon-gyu scoring the winner.
Today belongs to the other two hosts. Canada plays the first men’s World Cup match ever held on Canadian soil this afternoon, and the USMNT opens tonight in Los Angeles, its first World Cup game on home turf in 32 years. Both are on big FOX, which makes this the rare day an antenna alone covers everything.
If you are still sorting out your setup, the full how-to-watch guide covers every option from free to zero-hassle. And before the group stage piles up, the 12 players to watch is your cheat sheet for whose names matter.
3 p.m. ET: Canada vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, FOX
History at BMO Field in Toronto: Canada has been to two World Cups, in 1986 and 2022, and lost all six matches it played. Today, in front of a home crowd for the first time, is the day to finally put a point on the board. They will likely have to do it without captain Alphonso Davies, who is expected to sit out with a hamstring problem, with coach Jesse Marsch hoping to get him back later in the group. Juventus striker Jonathan David leads the line in his place as the main goal threat.
Bosnia is no warm-up act. This is its first World Cup since 2014, it knocked Italy out in the March playoffs to get here, and 40-year-old Edin Džeko is still the man the whole attack runs through. The two countries have never played each other, in any competition, ever.
How to watch: FOX, free over the air with an antenna. Telemundo and Peacock carry it in Spanish.
9 p.m. ET: USA vs. Paraguay, FOX
The night the US has waited 32 years for. The USMNT opens at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which FIFA is calling Los Angeles Stadium for the tournament, in its first World Cup match on home soil since 1994. Mauricio Pochettino coaches his first ever World Cup game, having last appeared at one as a player for Argentina in 2002, and captain Christian Pulisic carries the home hopes. The one US fitness question is Chris Richards’s ankle, so watch the lineup release about an hour before kickoff.
Do not let the favorite tag fool you. Paraguay is at its first World Cup since 2010, when it made a quarterfinal run, and it pushed this US team hard in a 2-1 November friendly. Miguel Almirón on the counter is the danger the back line has to respect all night.
How to watch: FOX over the air, or free in 4K on Tubi with a free account, one of its select streamed matches. FOX One has it too, and Telemundo and Peacock carry it in Spanish.
The 30-second watch recap
- Spending nothing today: an antenna covers both matches on FOX, Tubi adds the USMNT game free in 4K, and Telemundo has both in Spanish. No gaps today.
- Every match, cheapest: FOX One at $19.99 a month carries today’s pair and all 104 2026 World Cup matches.
- Zero hassle: if you already have YouTube TV or another live-TV service, both games are just there. Open the app at 3.
The full guide has the longer version, including the free-trial math.
Tomorrow the slate triples
Saturday brings three matches: Qatar vs. Switzerland at 3 p.m. on FOX, Brazil opening against Morocco at 6 p.m., and Haiti vs. Scotland at 9 p.m. Brazil against the team that reached the 2022 semifinals is a genuine Day 3 headliner. One heads-up: those last two are on FS1, so tomorrow is when the antenna-only plan starts hitting its limits.
Then the heavyweights arrive. Kylian Mbappé and France go Tuesday afternoon, Lionel Messi and defending champion Argentina go that night, and Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal follow Wednesday.
For now, it is a host-nation doubleheader and the biggest USMNT match in a generation. Not a bad Friday.
