‘We’re winning this thing’: World Cup fever hits Boise as the U.S. marches on
Every four years, some of the most iconic sporting videos that go viral on social media capture the sound of cities erupting in jubilation as their national soccer teams score a goal in the FIFA World Cup.
The moments that go viral typically feature major cities with deep soccer roots, such as Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro or the French capital of Paris.
But on Wednesday evening, similar sights and sounds could be heard across Boise as American forward Folarin Balogun fired the United States into the lead in the first half of the U.S.’s Round of 32 matchup against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
From the BoDo District’s Double Tap Pub to LIGA Boise on Capitol Boulevard, soccer fever was in the air as the United States won 2-0 to advance to the next round of the World Cup.
“It just really brings everyone together,” Jobonna Baza, a Boise local and youth soccer coach, told the Idaho Statesman after the game. “I feel like there’s a lot of people who don’t necessarily watch soccer, but as soon as the World Cup is on, they’re like, ‘We’re so into soccer.’”
The 2026 World Cup is being hosted in the United States — along with Canada and Mexico — for the first time since 1994. The early stages of the tournament saw the U.S. finish top of its four-team group before defeating Bosnia in the first round of the knockout stages, setting up a Round of 16 game against Belgium on July 6 at 6 p.m.
The World Cup hype couldn’t come at a better time for Boise, which is already enjoying a soccer renaissance as AC Boise became the city’s first professional soccer team earlier this year. The club has enjoyed an eight-game sellout streak as fans have flocked to fill the team’s 7,200-capacity stadium in Garden City.
“I think AC Boise has helped,” Double Tap Pub general manager Brennan Weaver told the Statesman. “And I think vice versa, this World Cup is gonna help to draw more fans in.”
Bars across the city began filling hours before Wednesday’s 6 p.m. kickoff. LIGA Boise had reached capacity at least 45 minutes before kickoff, with some fans having claimed tables hours ahead of the game.
“We’re playing games, we’re at LIGA, go USA!” Boise resident Corey Floresca told the Statesman amid a group of friends in the middle of the packed bar. “We’ve been here since 1:30 p.m., it’s a great time.”
While most of the city was erupting in cheers as the U.S. put two goals in the back of the net, not everyone frequenting the city’s bars and restaurants was in quite a jubilant mood.
Boise resident Eldar Tucakovic was part of a small group of Bosnians at Double Tap Pub that were instead celebrating when a pair of U.S. goals were disallowed for offside, and when a second-half red card reduced the Americans to 10 men.
Tucakovic was born in Boise shortly after his parents escaped the Bosnian War to America in the early 1990s. The three-year war erupted at the onset of the collapse of Yugoslavia, with Bosnia and Herzegovina becoming one of the first countries to declare its independence from the country in 1992.
Tucakovic’s family eventually moved back to Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital, where he grew up, before returning to Boise. His World Cup allegiances still lie with Zmajevi, Bosnian for “The Dragons,” and despite his team’s loss, he was still proud to see Bosnia reach its first-ever World Cup knockout round.
“Just for Bosnia to make it to this stage is huge for us,” Tucakovic told the Statesman. “We’ve never been this far, and to have a representation for a country that shouldn’t have really even been existing anymore, after the war and everything that had happened, we didn’t think that we would have made it.”
Wednesday’s victory puts the aptly named “Stars and Stripes” within the final 16 teams vying for soccer’s ultimate prize. And while the United States is seen as an outsider for the trophy compared to the likes of France and Argentina, don’t tell that to the fans in Boise.
When asked how far the United States will go, Baza’s response mirrors how a lot of hopeful Americans feel:
“All the way! We’re winning this thing.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 11:11 PM.
