America on Display on and off the Pitch for World Cup: Task Force Director

Twenty-one million, five hundred and twenty-six thousand: That was the highest number of viewers who tuned in to Fox Sports’ English-language telecast of Team USA’s opening World Cup match against Paraguay.

The 4–1 victory in Los Angeles was immediately considered one of the best games, if not the best game, the Stars and Stripes ever played on the global stage. It earned a record-breaking English-language viewership across the country.

This edition of the World Cup has put on display not only American soccer skills, but also the entire country as it hosts the competition for the first time since 1994.

“This World Cup isn’t just happening in a vacuum,” Andrew Giuliani, executive director of the White House Task Force on the FIFA World Cup 2026, told NTD, a sister outlet of The Epoch Times, on June 15.

“It’s happening over America’s 250th birthday. What a time, what a platform to be able to show off American exceptionalism to the rest of the world.”

Millions of fans from all across the world have flocked stateside to watch their national team play in 11 of the tournament’s 16 stadium venues, from Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle to Houston, Atlanta, and Miami.

The safe execution of each match held from June 12 through the championship final on July 19 falls not only on local law enforcement, but also on the federal government.

The task force has worked with the Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty, the FBI, the Coast Guard, and parts of the Department of Homeland Security to ensure a safe and orderly game experience by implementing an array of measures from multiple ticket checkpoints to anti-drone coverage.

“When you think about the viewership that’s 10 times the size of the Super Bowl, [it is] an unbelievable platform to be able to show off an unbelievable event in the greatest country with the greatest leadership that we’ve had in our history,” Giuliani said.

He also expressed his belief that sports are a powerful tool of diplomacy, calling them a means by which to engage a global audience.

“It’s an unbelievable example to people all around the world of the incredible greatness of our country, the importance of our constitutional republic, our freedoms that we have,” Giuliani said of the World Cup.

That immersion into American culture and life has been on full display across social media.

Scotland’s Tartan Army descended on Boston to watch the Scottish team play its first World Cup match since 1998 at Gillette Stadium.

Argentinians swapped their asado for barbecue in Kansas City, Missouri, in their pursuit to see their national hero, Lionel Messi, play a sixth and possibly final World Cup.

Brazilian festivities have erupted alongside those of Knicks fans in New York City, and the English occupied pubs in Dallas after “The Three Lions” 4–2 victory against Croatia.

But they have gone beyond the big city hubs this summer, following their teams to friendlies in smaller college towns such as Auburn, Alabama, and exploring suburbs, national parks, and beaches.

Their perception of the host nation and its people has been overwhelmingly positive.

Giuliani referenced a recent U.S. travel survey that shows that 94 percent of first-time visitors to the United States said their opinion of the country improved or remained the same after their trip.

He also cited work done by the current administration to ensure that many of those fans would be able to enter the country and see their team play.

Of the 19 countries whose citizens can apply for entry to the United States through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, 5 million have been processed for the World Cup just between Oct. 1, 2025, and March 2026.

He also said that the B1/B2 visa wait time for Argentinians dropped to just two days from 300 days and that the wait time for Brazilians has gone to roughly two weeks from 700 days.

“There is a very, very key balance in all this, and that balance is simply [that] we want people to come to the United States of America,” he said. “We want them to enjoy the World Cup. We want them to enjoy America’s 250th birthday.

“What we don’t want is, we don’t want bad actors to come to the United States. That’s why ultimately the president has created legal pathways to be able to come to the United States for this World Cup.”

Team USA will be back on the pitch at 3 p.m. on June 19, squaring off against Australia in Seattle.