00:00The road to the 2026 FIFA World Cup officially began here on Monday in Irvine,
00:06where nearly 6,000 fans packed into the Great Park Sports Complex
00:10to watch the U.S. men's national team open their training camp.
00:14And make no mistake about it, this felt more like a carnival than an actual practice.
00:18More than 35,000 fans entered a lottery to receive tickets.
00:23American flags and jerseys, like the one I'm wearing now, were everywhere.
00:27Fans would break out into spontaneous U.S.A. chants.
00:31U.S.A.! U.S.A.!
00:34There was even a giant hot air balloon with the U.S.A. crest floating above the training grounds.
00:40On the pitch, the training session was relatively light,
00:43especially after U.S.A. just played Germany less than 48 hours ago in a friendly yet soldier field.
00:48But the fans didn't seem to care.
00:50They came here to see Kristen Pulisic, Weston McKinney, and the rest of their favorite players.
00:54But now that the celebration is over, the real work begins.
00:58Team U.S.A. must prepare for their opening match on Friday night at SoFi Stadium against Paraguay.
01:04Head over to CaliforniaPost.com for all of our World Cup coverage.
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