Amerika Serikat Hadapi Paraguay pada Laga Pembuka Piala Dunia 2026

Tim nasional putra Amerika Serikat bersiap menghadapi Paraguay dalam pertandingan pembuka babak penyisihan Grup D Piala Dunia 2026 di SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California, pada Jumat malam waktu setempat.

Pertandingan ini menjadi momen krusial bagi pelatih kepala Mauricio Pochettino yang mengemban beban besar untuk membawa tim tuan rumah melangkah jauh dalam debutnya memimpin tim di turnamen akbar ini.

Berdasarkan simulasi komputer super Opta, Amerika Serikat memiliki peluang kemenangan sebesar 39,6 persen, sementara Paraguay mengantongi 33.8 persen peluang menang, dan hasil imbang berada di angka 26,6 persen.

Pochettino menegaskan bahwa kesiapan mental anak asuhnya sudah terbentuk matang menjelang laga perdana ini sehingga tidak memerlukan dorongan motivasi tambahan dari luar.

"Don't expect an unbelievable speech Friday," kata Pochettino, Pelatih Kepala Amerika Serikat.

"No, I am the opposite. I think now is the moment that they need to build the way to know, to prepare in an emotional and mental way. I think everyone knows how to be ready. I think now they don't need any external motivation or inspirational speech."

Kiper Matt Freese turut menyuarakan optimisme senada mengenai kesiapan dan solidaritas tim yang tinggi di dalam lapangan untuk mengamankan poin penuh.

"I would say the message is to believe," ujar Matt Freese, Penjaga Gawang Amerika Serikat.

"We're believing, and when you have a group of guys that fight for each other and dies for each other on the field, anything can happen."

Kondisi fisik lini belakang juga menjadi fokus perhatian setelah Chris Richards mengalami masalah pergelangan kaki dalam beberapa pekan terakhir menjelang turnamen.

"I wouldn't put myself in this position if I didn't think that i could do everything," kata Chris Richards, Pemain Bertahan Amerika Serikat.

"I think part of playing the sport is that you're gonna have some pain at some point, and i'm totally okay with that as long as functionally I'm good. That's the number one thing for me."

Di sisi lain, gelandang Tim Ream mengingatkan rekan-rekan setimnya untuk mengambil pelajaran dari intensitas laga uji coba terakhir melawan Paraguay pada November lalu.

"At the end, there was a little bit extra," kenang Tim Ream, Gelandang Amerika Serikat.

"It had the feel of a game that meant something more, and now you look at it, and you think, 'Okay, it was a perfect test for us in that moment'. It's good that we've had that experience, you come to this point, it's a World Cup. Yes, there are things you can glean from it and learn, but it's kind of in the rear-view mirror."

Rekan setimnya, Gio Reyna, yang mencetak gol dalam kemenangan 2-1 pada laga ramah tersebut, menambahkan bahwa atmosfer Piala Dunia akan menuntut energi yang jauh lebih besar.

"It was a really, really intense game," kata Gio Reyna, Gelandang Amerika Serikat.

"I was happy to score a goal, and I know it was a good win for the team, but obviously, it will be completely different now. A World Cup is hard to compare to. We just have to be ready to match the intensity and energy we did last time. With our talent, we believe we can find a way to get over the line and win the game."

Gelandang Tyler Adams memprediksi Paraguay akan tampil jauh lebih agresif demi membalas kekalahan mereka dalam pertemuan terakhir di laga persahabatan tersebut.

"So, obviously, getting a win against them is good, but they'll be hungry, probably even hungrier in their first World Cup game against a team that just recently beat them," tutur Tyler Adams, Gelandang Amerika Serikat.

"They'll be hungry to get after it, so we need to deal with that as well."

Sementara itu, antusiasme tinggi penonton membuat harga tiket melambung tinggi hingga melebihi 1.200 dolar AS di situs rujukan sekunder pada tengah hari menjelang pertandingan.

Presiden FIFA Gianni Infantino mempertahankan strategi penetapan harga dinamis tersebut demi menekan keuntungan para calo di pasar gelap.

"In this situation they could’ve gone down as well, they didn’t really go down, shows maybe the price point was the right one," cetus Gianni Infantino, Presiden FIFA.

Pihak otoritas sepak bola dunia tersebut juga memberikan klarifikasi mengenai sejumlah kursi kosong yang terlihat pada siaran pertandingan pembuka antara Korea Selatan dan Czechia.

"reflect the number of tickets scanned and spectators present within the stadium footprint, rather than visual assessments of seating occupancy at any given moment during the match," tulis FIFA dalam rilis resminya.

Badan pengatur sepak bola internasional tersebut menambahkan analisis visual terkadang tidak akurat karena dinamika penonton di area stadion.

"several ticketed fans could be seen standing in concourses rather than staying in their assigned seats," pungkas FIFA.

Pertandingan Grup D lainnya akan mempertemukan Australia melawan Turki di BC Place sebelum kedua tim menghadapi Amerika Serikat dan Paraguay pada laga berikutnya tanggal 19 Juni.