KC World Cup watch party drew large crowd for US-Paraguay. See inside
Wonder Woman, a founding father and a bald eagle — those are just a few of the outfits attendees donned at a World Cup watch party in Kansas City’s Power & Light District on Friday.
Chants bolstering the United States filled the air as the U.S. took on Paraguay in the fourth match of the World Cup, which kicked off at SoFi Stadium (officially referred to as Los Angeles stadium for the tournament) at 8 p.m.
The game followed a 1-1 tied match between Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina earlier in the day, which marked Canada’s first-ever point made on the global stage.
Although Friday evening’s match played out in Los Angeles, you wouldn’t know it based on the crowd at Kansas City Live!, in the city’s Power & Light District.
Fans young and old packed into the venue donning their red, white and blue gear, where they were rewarded with a 4-1 U.S. win.
Prior to the match, a woman wearing a Wonder Woman costume told a Star reporter she was initially nervous for the U.S. to square off against Paraguay.
“I definitely had a little bit of trouble sleeping last night because I didn’t know how this game was gonna go,” she said. “But this atmosphere and everyone being hype, it was really like, ‘We can f------ do it,’ you know?”
Boasting live DJs, contests, and giveaways, fans heard from national broadcaster Nate Bukaty and former U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder Benny Fielhaber prior to the match.
The hosts threw scarves, can coolers and other goodies into the crowd. Right before the match, the pair hosted a limbo competition, which saw contestants in the form of Wonder Woman, a founding father and a man wearing U.S.-themed overalls.
The watch party is the second in two days at KC Live!, coming just after fans gathered at the venue to watch Mexico beat South Africa 2-0.
The first point of the match went to the U.S., earned on an own goal by Paraguay midfielder Damian Bobadilla, giving the U.S. the lead.
Fans at Power & Light roared in celebration, throwing their drinks into the air, as the team quickly bolstered its lead before the end of the first half with two goals from attacker Folarin Balogun.
After halftime, midfielder Maurício earned a point for Paraguay, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the U.S. team — midfielder Giovanni Reyna scored a fourth goal for the U.S. just before the game’s completion.
On Saturday, matchups include games between Haiti and Scotland, Australia and Turkey, Brazil and Morocco and Qatar and Switzerland.
The United States will play again on June 19 in Seattle, where they’ll square off against Australia.
Kansas City will see its first match played at Arrowhead Stadium on Tuesday, where Argentina will face Algeria.
