The FIFA World Cup officially kicked off this week, and the U.S. men’s national team made a serious statement with an incredible 4–1 win over Paraguay. Before the teams took the field at SoFi Stadium, country duo Dan + Shay delivered a powerful rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Country Living managing editor Amy Mitchell was in attendance with her family to cheer on her nephew, Chris Richards, who completed all 83 of his passes during the win, setting a record for a the most passes by a player with 100% accuracy in a FIFA World Cup match since 1966,
It’s been more than 30 years since the World Cup took place on U.S. soil, and Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney helped kick off the memorable event in front of a crowd of 70,000+.
Dan + Shay shared a video from their performance on Instagram and were met with a flood of comments from fans.
“Perfect vocals!! 🇺🇸❤️💙I sent this to my mom and she said ‘they could probably sing the dictionary and it would sound fabulous!’ 🤣” one fan wrote. Another declared it the “Best Star Spangled Banner ever” and one commenter wrote, “This is in my top five. They did an amazing job singing our country’s song 🙏🇺🇸” Michael Bublé chimed in with “Beautiful ❤️❤️❤️” and country singer Ernest left heart and flag emojis.
Up next, the USMNT heads to Seattle, where they will face Australia on June 19.
Katie Bowlby is Digital Director at Country Living, where she covers pop culture news including country music, Yellowstone, and all things HGTV, plus gift guides and product reviews. She has been with Country Living for more than 11 years. Before that, she worked for Southern Living. The Indiana University grad also stitches up the cross-stitch pattern for every issue of the magazine.
