Today’s group B match between Qatar and Switzerland at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, ended in a 1-1 draw.

Switzerland scored the first goal in the 23 minutes of the first half, while Qatar equalised in the second half.

Qatar’s Boualem Khoukhi stunned Switzerland with a late equaliser as the sides played out a 1-1 draw in their opening match at the World Cup on Saturday.

A Breel Embolo penalty had broken the deadlock for Switzerland early in the first half in the San Francisco Bay Area, before the wasteful favourites were made to pay as Qatar earned their first ever point at a World Cup.

Qatar, appearing in just their second finals after hosting the 2022 World Cup, looked rusty after the war in the Middle East caused the cancellation of two of their warm-up friendlies, meaning their meeting with Switzerland was just their third match since December last year.

And for the majority of the match they were outclassed as Switzerland racked up 26 shots, before 35-year-old Khoukhi’s header four minutes into injury time sparked wild celebrations on the Qatar bench.

For their boss Julen Lopetegui, it was also a landmark moment as he coached his first World Cup match.

• Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on June 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sarah Stier – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

In the presence of a multitude of A-listers, VIPs and Hollywood stars, Folarin Balogun played the role of USA’s leading man perfectly in Los Angeles Stadium.

The forward scored a brilliant brace in USA’s 4-1 victory over Paraguay in their FIFA World Cup 2026™ opener to bring the likes of Tom Cruise, David Beckham, George Lucas and Halle Berry to their feet.

After having an effort disallowed for offside, Balogun doubled the Stars and Stripes’ lead by slotting home a neat cross from Christian Pulisic before smashing the ball into the top corner in first-half stoppage time.

“It’s an amazing occasion. It’s an amazing night and something I dreamed of for a long time. I committed to the US and a part of it was wanting to play on the biggest stages and repay the fans,” the Monaco forward told FIFA.

“It means everything to me to play in front of the home fans…. a World Cup on our home soil… I’m very happy and very proud of everyone. It means the world to get the first-game nerves out of the way and the way we did. I’m sure it will do us a lot of good.”

It was a neat case of déjà vu for Balogun, who scored the winner for USA in their 2-1 friendly victory against Paraguay in November.

“It’s just how the cherries fell… I know I scored against them before and to do it again on a bigger stage is a dream come true,” added Balogun, who was named the Michelob Ultra Superior Player of the Match.

It was also an incredible start for Mauricio Pochettino’s men, who sealed victory thanks to an an early own goal and an exquisite late strike from substitute Gio Reyna.

They now go into their second group-stage match against Australia in Seattle full of confidence.”It puts us in a good spot, of course.

It shows the amount of chemistry we have as a team and we’re prepared for the next one and all good vibes here,” added USA forward Ricardo Pepi. “Being here at home I thought it was a fantastic atmosphere to open up our World Cup.”

• FIFA

Co-hosts Canada grabbed a second-half equaliser to draw 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday in the first World Cup finals game ever played on Canadian soil.

Cyle Larin got Canada’s goal after Jovo Lukic put Bosnia ahead with a header on 21 minutes in Toronto.

The Opening Match had been heralded by pre-match cameos from Michael Buble and Alanis Morisette, yet it was the star quality of the Canadian substitutes that had the Toronto Stadium in raptures by the end of this very watchable Group B contest.

Sergej Barbarez had promised a motivational speech before the game and his Bosnian players responded well. Amar Memic sent an early chance over, and with the Dragons establishing superiority at set pieces, Sead Kolasinac’s flick from a corner enabled Jovo Lukic to head home.

Undeterred, Canada played with energy and endeavour. Yet when the ball ricocheted favourably for Jonathan David, the striker’s low shot made for a comfortable Nikola Vasilj save.

Tani Oluwaseyi had an even more inviting opportunity but blazed over despite time and space in the box.

Oluwaseyi lit up the start of the second half with a Cruyff turn and nearly scored with a header blocked by Nikola Katic.

The Canucks were in full flow when Stephen Eustaguio, deputising as captain for the unused Alphonso Davies, played in Richie Laryea but somehow Kolasinac cleared the goal-bound shot off the line.

At the other end, Maxime Crepeau saved at the feet of Ermedin Demirovic.

Jesse Marsch’s team were staying positive, boosted by a number of substitutions.

It was the 76th-minute introduction of Larin that brought the equaliser and, ultimately, Canada’s first-ever World Cup point.

The striker had only been on the pitch two minutes when he turned sharply to fire in from Promise David’s assist. And he nearly won it in added time but was denied by Tarik Muharemovic.