World Cup 2026 Day Three: Trump Calls USMNT, Visa Denials Strand Delegates, and European Tourists Can't Stop Talking About Buc-ee's

Since the World Cup opened with Mexico vs. South Africa on Thursday, the tournament has generated as much political friction as it has sporting drama.

Trump's Call, Rubio's Seat

President Trump phoned the U.S. men's national team Thursday night at their hotel in Inglewood, California. Andrew Giuliani, the White House's designated World Cup liaison, was on camera for the 45-second clip the USMNT posted to X on Friday. Trump told manager Mauricio Pochettino he was "a fantastic guy, a fantastic coach" and said the team had "a really good chance of going all the way." Pochettino replied they would "do everything to make you proud."

Trump is not expected to attend the match. According to the New York Post, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña will both be at SoFi Stadium tonight. The gesture itself isn't novel: Joe Biden FaceTimed coach Gregg Berhalter before the 2022 tournament and Barack Obama called Clint Dempsey after the 2014 run ended.

USA vs. Paraguay: What's on the Line

Tonigh's 9 p.m. ET kickoff is, as the New York Post put it, "one of the most anticipated moments in the history of U.S. Soccer." The Americans enter as -110 moneyline favorites — the first time the U.S. has gone into a World Cup as the betting favorite to win its group, per the Post.

Christian Pulisic is the primary threat. Folarin Balogun gives Pochettino a genuine striker option, and the midfield pairing of Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie is solid. The defensive question is Chris Richards, whose injury status had been uncertain; he returned to practice this week and is expected to play. Captain Tim Ream, 38, anchors the back line.

FIFA has implemented mandatory water breaks in each half for the first time at a World Cup, per Fox News/OutKick, a direct response to summer heat at venues across the southwestern United States.

Visa Denials Are a Real Problem

Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestinian Football Association, is currently in Mexico City unable to enter the United States. He attended Thursday's opening match there while waiting on a visa that has not come. He is not alone: the United States has also denied entry to a referee from Somalia and a photographer traveling with Iraq's national team, according to reporting by the Associated Press carried by both Breitbart and the New York Post.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino acknowledged the situation Wednesday, saying his organization had been working to resolve the visa issues but could not override sovereign governments. "We need to respect that we are not the kings of the world who can rule over governments and police forces," Infantino told reporters.

The U.S. State Department offered no comment on Rajoub's specific case. The department implemented new restrictions on Palestinian passport holders last year, including anyone who had worked for the Palestinian Authority. Rajoub is a veteran Palestinian political figure with a long record of anti-Israel advocacy at FIFA, and his visa denial fits a broader pattern of Trump administration restrictions on PA-affiliated officials — the administration revoked Mahmoud Abbas's UN travel visa last September.

The strongest argument for the denials: Rajoub is a political actor, not just a sports administrator, and the U.S. government has broad discretion over who enters the country. The strongest argument against: the United States is the host nation, which carries a diplomatic expectation of access for credentialed delegates, and denying a Somali referee entry has nothing to do with Palestinian politics. FIFA framed the tournament as a celebration of "global unity." Stranding accredited officials in Mexico City undercuts that framing, regardless of one's view of any individual denied a visa.

Europeans and the Heartland

One story that has nothing to do with politics is running surprisingly strong. European World Cup visitors who drove between host cities have been posting viral content about their encounters with Buc-ee's, Bass Pro Shops, Costco, and the sheer scale of American highway infrastructure. The Daily Wire's Ethan Strauss wrote a detailed examination of the phenomenon on Friday, noting that German fan "FreddyLA7" — who has received tourism help from former NFL star JJ Watt — may or may not be exactly what he appears. Strauss raised the reasonable question of whether some of this content is organic or partly astroturfed, since the accounts driving the trend have posting patterns that reward engagement. He concluded it doesn't entirely matter: the visitors are tapping into a genuine appetite Americans have for outside validation of flyover-state culture that rarely gets it.

OutKick/Fox News separately confirmed the viral genre is real enough that Alabama media ran a straight news headline about a German fan's 1 a.m. Buc-ee's stop.

California Democrats Step on a Rake

The official California Democrats X account posted a series of messages this week stating that people who have "voted against immigration," "spoken out against DEI," or "only want people to speak English" are "not allowed to watch the World Cup." The posts drew immediate backlash, per Breitbart. California hosts eight World Cup matches, including tonight's USA-Paraguay game. The party has no mechanism to enforce any of this. The posts appeared to be an attempt to own a cultural moment that backfired — there is no charitable reading of a major political party telling citizens they are barred from watching a sporting event based on their voter history.

The Open Question Tonight

Chris Richards's fitness is the hinge the American defense turns on. He's back at practice, but Pochettino has not confirmed he starts. If Richards is limited or unavailable, the U.S. backline facing Paraguay's physical forwards will be a genuine vulnerability. A group-stage stumble for the host nation, in front of a home crowd that has waited a decade for this moment, would be a significant story regardless of what else is happening around the tournament.