Happy 250th Birthday, America! As one of three host countries of the 2026 World Cup, you received a bit of a gift from the U.S. Men’s National Team, which is on to the round of 16 having beaten Bosnia and Herzegovina on July 1 to advance. Today the team faces Belgium in hopes of getting one step closer to the final match at the Meadowlands stadium in the swamps of New Jersey on July 19.
The real gift — and it’s been a bit of a surprise — is the fact that the World Cup has been nothing short of a major success, for FIFA (the ruling body of international football), rights holders Fox and NBCUniversal and for football fans who have been treated to some top-quality football (soccer) and startling upsets. The lead-up to the start of the World Cup had seen a flurry of worry and bad-news reports of unfilled hotel rooms, fears of ICE raids outside stadiums and exorbitant ticket pricing.
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