Salt Lake City’s FIFA foster roster’s opening World Cup match ends in a draw

RSL Real Salt Lake Stadium, where the FIFA World Cup team from Bosnia and Heregovina are utilizing as a training site. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

TORONTO, Canada — Real Salt Lake’s stadium is hosting the World Cup Team from Bosnia and Herzegovina as a training base, and when that team played their opener in Toronto on Friday against Canada, the score was 1-1.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, and Canada, so this game was part of all three home-host openers, with each team winning or tying on home soil. The U.S. beat Paraguay in Los Angeles 4 – 1 on Friday, but earlier on Thursday in Mexico City, Mexico beat South Africa 2 – 0. During that single Mexico match, three red cards were issued; by contrast, only four were issued throughout the month-long 2022 World Cup. Each of the three host nations held its own Opening Ceremony. At the Bosnia and Herzegovina one, musical performances by Alanis Morissette and Michael Bublé were intertwined with traditional dances by Indigenous peoples and a flyover by seaplanes in formation. 

In the stands to watch it all were not only Ryan Reynolds of movie and TV fame from the Welcome to Wrexham soccer show, but also Mike Meyers of movie and TV fame from Saturday Night Live.

Bosnia and Herzegovina scored first with a goal, or GOOOOOOOOOAL if fans in the United States were watching on Telemundo, at 21′ by Jovo Lukic in this Group Stage, Group B opener. Canada put their point on the board in the 78th minute from Cyle Larin, who plays professionally for England’s Southampton FC, which was recently relegated from the Premier League. 

Park City’s Kris Severson was a Venue Manager for Sport Production and Stadium Entertainment at the Men’s 2018 and 2022 World Cups as well as the Women’s 2023 World Cup. He told TownLift, “It’s a privilege for Utahns to host a country like Bosnia and Herzegovina during the World Cup. Yes, their players, coaches, and staff get to experience all that Salt Lake City has to offer, but almost more so we get to experience the incredibly loyal fanbase following them around and cheering on their country mates. The dedication that international football fans have is absolutely electrifying and the lengths that they’ll go to to support their teams is inspiring.”

In between mandated Hydration Breaks, one in each half, a new addition to this quadrennial tournament is the ref cam, a POV shot making viewing that much more exciting for fans. Many of those fans in Park City are gathering at Watch Parties held at places including but not limited to Maxwells, Collies, No Name Saloon, The Boneyard, the Market at Park City, Davanza’s, and El Chubasco pictured here. 

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Assigned to Salt Lake City by FIFA tournament organizers, Bosnia and Herzegovina players feel at home in their home-away-from-home headquarters in Salt Lake City, since their European homeland mirrors the mountainous region of the Wasatch Range. Other cities that are not hosting World Cup matches are also hosting international teams, providing them with training facilities and housing in close proximity to major airports.

Next up for Bosnia and Herzegovina is a match against Switzerland in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and following that, they’ll face Qatar in Seattle on Tuesday, June 24.