BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 26. The U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan hosted a watch party for the 2026 FIFA World Cup match between the United States and Türkiye, TurkicWorld 's correspondent reports from the event.
The event, titled "USA-Türkiye World Cup Watch Party," is taking place on the 22nd floor of Landmark III in Baku and has brought together the embassy's invited guests for a breakfast screening of the Group D fixture.
The match kicked off at 6:00 a.m. local time. The United States opened the scoring in the second minute to take a 1-0 lead over Türkiye.
Speaking at the event, Acting Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan Mark Hernandez said that sport, particularly football, has the unique ability to bring people together across borders, cultures and languages.
"One of the things that makes sport, and particularly football, such an amazing thing to see is its ability to bring people together across borders, cultures, and languages," he said.
According to Hernandez, no matter which team people support, everyone shares a love of competition, teamwork and fair play.
"The World Cup in particular is one of my favorite events of any sporting event worldwide," he said.
Hernandez recalled watching Roberto Baggio send his penalty over the crossbar in 1994, backpacking through France while witnessing Zinedine Zidane lead the hosts to the World Cup title in 1998, seeing the United States lose to Belgium in a pouring rainstorm in 2014, and watching Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé face off in what he described as the greatest World Cup final in 2022.
According to Hernandez, the United States is continuing its decade of sports leading up to major global sporting events while preparing to celebrate the country's 250th anniversary next week.
"We are proud to use sport as a platform to strengthen international connections and people-to-people ties," he said.
Hernandez noted that Baku's designation as the World Capital of Sports in 2026 demonstrates how sport can inspire young people, build communities and create opportunities for collaboration.
U.S. Embassy spokesperson Anthony Tranchina told reporters that 2026 FIFA World Cup is the most complex sporting event in history, with 20 host cities across three countries.
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.
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.
Meanwhile, according FIFA, the match marks the first-ever FIFA World Cup meeting between the United States and Türkiye
