Cristian Roldan will be representing the Huskies, the Seattle Sounders and the Red, White and Blue in the USMNT's World Cup-opening match against Paraguay
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is officially underway and there's a lot of expectations for the U.S. Men's National Team in this year's international soccer competition.
The U.S. has never won the World Cup and was eliminated with a 3-1 loss against the Netherlands in the knockout stage of the 2022 edition of the tournament. The U.S.' best all-time result was third place in the 1930 World Cup. It's last time securing a win in the knockout stage was a 2-0 win against Mexico in the 2002 World Cup.
The U.S. will begin its World Cup play against Paraguay on Friday, and the Washington Huskies men's soccer team will have one representative on the men's soccer team.
Cristian Roldan, a 31-year-old midfielder, will be playing his second World Cup with the USMNT and will be looking to make a bigger impact than he did in the '22 campaign.
About Cristian Roldan
Roldan played with the Huskies from 2013-14, where he made appearances in 41 matches, scored 10 goals and had 19 points. He was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2013 and helped lead UW to a Pac-12 conference title the same season.
Following his college career, Roldan signed a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) and stayed in the Pacific Northwest with the Seattle Sounders.
Roldan has been one of the fixtures for the Sounders in his 12-season tenure with the club.
In his more than a decade with the Sounders, Roldan has been named an MLS All-Star once (2021), was named to the MLS' Best XI once (2025) and the CONCACAF Champions League Best XI once (2022).
During his MLS career, Seattle has won the MLS Cup twice (2016, 2019), the CONCACAF Champions League once ('22) and the Leagues Cup once ('25).
How to watch USMNT
The U.S.' match against Paraguay is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT on Friday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. The game will air on FOX and can be streamed on FOX One, Fubo and DirecTV. Spanish-language watchers will be able to catch the Spanish broadcast on Peacock.
The USMNT will be playing in Group D in the Group stage. In addition to the U.S. and Paraguay, Australia and Turkey will also compete in the group.
The top two teams in the group will advance to the knockout stage of the World Cup and will make up 24 of the 32 teams in the round. Eight third-place teams make up the rest of the knockout stage.
Roldan and the U.S. will return to the former's usual home of Lumen Field in Seattle for a match against Australia at noon PT on June 19.
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