BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 26. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is the most complex sporting event in history, with 20 host cities across three countries, U.S. Embassy spokesperson Anthony Tranchina said, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
He made the remarks during the "USA-Türkiye World Cup Watch Party" hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan in Baku on June 26.
"It is really a pleasure to be here to welcome the world to the USA-Türkiye game for the 2026 World Cup," Tranchina said.
He noted that this year's tournament is the most complex sporting event in history, with 20 cities in three countries serving as hosts.
"The United States is thrilled to be one of the three co-hosts for this year's World Cup, welcoming the world to showcase American hospitality and American excellence in sports," he said.
According to Tranchina, Azerbaijan is also recognized as one of the world's leading hosts of international sporting events.
"The United States and Azerbaijan are both proud to be among the countries that host premier sporting events globally," he said.
Commenting on the match itself, Tranchina described it as an exciting contest.
"As we've seen, America was ahead, now Türkiye is ahead, and I think that we're going to have a really exciting second half to the match," he said.
Tranchina said he was not ready to predict the winner but stressed that he was proud of Team USA regardless of the outcome.
"This is probably the best Team USA in the World Cup that we've ever seen," he said.
He recalled that the United States finished third at the inaugural FIFA World Cup and expressed hope that this year's team would become the first American side to reach the World Cup final.
Speaking about the overall performance of the U.S. national team, Tranchina said it is the strongest squad the country has fielded at a World Cup.
"We won our first two games. The game today against Türkiye is very competitive, and I am very proud that we've already made the second round," he said.
According to Tranchina, Team USA has the potential to achieve its best-ever World Cup result.
"We're hopeful that you'll see America in the semifinals or even the finals," he said.
Asked why the embassy had chosen to organize a watch party specifically for the United States-Türkiye match, Tranchina said the decision reflected Azerbaijanis' strong support for the Turkish national team.
"I think there's a lot of affection for the Turkish team in Azerbaijan, which is why we selected the USA-Türkiye match to host our Azerbaijani friends and the sporting community of Baku," he said.
Tranchina added that the embassy also believed it would be one of the tournament's most entertaining fixtures.
"The United States and Türkiye have very, very good teams, and we thought that this would be the best match to show our Azerbaijani friends. It also was at the right time of the morning," he said.
