SEATTLE – When I think about the United States’ first World Cup match in Seattle, I will always remember the sounds.
At 7:45 AM, I heard the Beastie Boys’ classic "Brass Monkey" blaring from Pier 62, already packed with fans for a match that wasn’t scheduled to start for more than four more hours. As I got closer to the stadium, I realized that seemingly every bar along the way already had a line snaking outside.
During the National Anthem, I was blown away at the way nearly 67,000 voices could remind me that for all our differences, we are still a united nation. Over the past few years, I’ve found myself sitting during the National Anthem more often than not, but on Friday I was ready to belt it out with my full chest in the press box.
As if that wasn’t enough, four Apache and Blackhawk helicopters delivered a rhythmic thwap-thwap-thwap as they flew over the stadium. Again, I’m not one for gratuitous shows of military force, but I was willing to happily put that aside for the occasion of USA facing Australia in what had to be the most anticipated men's soccer match in American history.
At the start of the match, it was the boom-boom-clap "U-S-A" chant that felt perfectly at home in what is normally called Lumen Field. I’ll admit that I don’t know if this is an American Outlaws standard at this point, but I’m pretty sure that this chant made its U.S. Soccer debut at the 2013 World Cup qualifier that was played here.
Once the game got going, there were more memorable sounds. When Folarin Balogun rounded his defender and sent in a cross that deflected off a defender for an own-goal, the explosion was so loud the pressbox was literally shaking. The seismic activity was strong enough that it rivaled any previous event at Lumen Field.
Here's another view of the first goal from the USA v. Australia match, as seen from the PNSN SeismoLab in Seattle! Watch the seismogram scroll along with the unfolding action on the pitch. #WorldCup2026 #FIFAWorldCup #SportsSeismology
— Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (@pnsn1.bsky.social) June 19, 2026 at 1:42 PM
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A bit later, we got a double-dose of seismic sound when Alex Freeman scored a header and then had the call confirmed by VAR.
#USMNT got supporters rockin'n'rollin' in Seattle Stadium! Even with the flag up, Freeman's header tops the list and fans went WILD after the VAR overturn! Here's how Seattle #FIFAWorldCup goals stack up so far. Stay tuned to see how next other matches stack up to the USA goals!
— Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (@pnsn1.bsky.social) June 19, 2026 at 5:22 PM
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Perhaps the funniest sounds I’ll remember were fans singing along to Bon Jovi's "Livin' on a Prayer", which was played during the hydration breaks, seemingly as a way of distracting fans who had started to boo the element after it was standardized for this tournament by FIFA.
Cynical as that choice may have been, I think it also set the stage for fans to give us arguably the most memorable and talked about sound of the tournament: their singing along to John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" at the end of the game. It’s not entirely clear where this song selection came from or why it was chosen, but if the goal was to play a song whose chorus the average American could sing along to, they nailed it. The song played for about two minutes, giving the crowd at least three opportunities to get in on that memorable chorus. Each time, they delivered. The house audio was cut each time, allowing the collective voice to rise to something almost religious.
In the days since this game, my social media feeds have been flooded with posts lavishing praise on the entire spectacle that was Friday's game. Make no mistake, Seattle's soccer culture is what allowed it to transcend what was always going to be a massive moment in this program's history. But this was also a day that was shared with countless out-of-towners and foreigners. Together, we made something that was truly special. I know the sounds will also stay with me.
