Historic New York Night Headlines World Cup Day 3 Winners and Losers

Saturday brought us the first quadruple header of the World Cup, and more games means only more winners and losers each day across North America.

After a series of packed stadium games from Vancouver to the Bay Area, here are my top storylines of the day as we head into Sunday’s action.

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Winner: People Who Love Watching Sports

While there was a lot of blowback on the expansion of the World Cup from 32 to 48 teams, there has been one massive change that is feeding people who can’t get enough of the event: more games. For the next two weeks, there is four games every single day, which, if you live in North America, is from when you wake up to the time you go to sleep.

It’s sports paradise for fans of the sport, where at any given time in the day you might see an underdog turn into a main character or watch a giant stumble.

Loser: Turkey

It was a tough night for a nation that had high expectations heading into the tournament. Turkey, along with the United States, were seen as the top seeds in Group D. And while the U.S. came out like a rocket against Paraguay, blitzing them 4-1 in their opener, Turkey was upset by Australia 2-0 in Vancouver.

Turkey had over 70% of the possession and had over 30 shots, but were perfectly countered by a physical Aussie side that never stopped moving from the first blow of the whistle. They’re now in an almost must-win scenario next week against an equally desperate Paraguay team.

Winner: New York City

Who had a better Saturday than New York City? Not only have thousands of Brazilians and Moroccan fans taken over Manhattan, but the New York Knicks won the NBA championship, leading to even more pandemonium in the city. How do they follow all of this up?

The World Cup Final in a little over a month at MetLife Stadium (yes, I know it’s in New Jersey, but even FIFA is pushing it as New York).

Loser: People Who Thought Stadiums Would Be Empty

While not every stadium at the World Cup has been shown off yet, we have three days of games so far, and almost every single contest has been packed to the brim with fans. For people hoping that tickets might go down in price, they’re only getting higher following the United States beating up on Paraguay in Los Angeles.

Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. have all had amazing crowds the first three days of the tournament, and it should only get heightened as the tournament goes along.

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This story was originally published June 14, 2026 at 1:00 PM.