Russell Wilson helped bring a Super Bowl to the city of Seattle and on his return to one of his favorite cities in the United States on Friday, he was adding to World Cup fever at Lumen Field.
The former Seahawks quarterback appeared alongside his popstar wife Ciara for the USA game against Australia, with the power couple leading the list of celebrities in town for the clash.
Wilson recently retired from the NFL in order to pursue a career as an analyst but was welcomed back to the city of his greatest achievements on Friday afternoon, even if the thousands of fans in attendance swapped football for soccer as their No. 1 sport.
Paris Hilton was at the game – she was also in the stands in Los Angeles for the host nation’s 4-1 win over Paraguay last Friday.
USA women’s soccer star Trinity Rodman was there too and added to the excitement by carrying out the match ball before things kicked off in front of a packed out stadium.
Fellow female soccer stars Alex Morgan and Jill Ellis were also shown watching the game from a VIP suite, joined by former USA goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
Ex-Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson and wife Ciara headed to the USA World Cup game
Ciara pictured leaving the field moments before the game started between USA and Australia
Paris Hilton was also in attendance – the celeb watched last week’s win in-person, too
USA women’s soccer star Trinity Rodman carried out the match ball before the start
Former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch was taking photos on a huge day of drama
Donald Trump’s administration was represented too. After Marco Rubio was at the first game, Secretary of Health RFK Jr. was in the stands for the second game.
There was also a famous name on the sidelines, taking photographs of another historic day for American soccer.
The former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, a teammate of Wilson’s on the day of that famous Super Bowl victory back in 2014, has since forged a new career as a photographer.
He was in place for the big game against Australia, which began perfectly for the United States when rival defender Cameron Burgess scored an own goal after only 11 minutes.
The US team doubled their lead two minutes before halftime with Alex Freeman scoring a close-range header to send the crowd wild.
Victory confirmed the United States team’s place in the knockout round of 32 with a game to spare – they play Turkey back in Los Angeles next Thursday looking to clinch first place in their group.
It was a win that was all the more impressive for Mauricio Pochettino’s team given that star man Christian Pulisic was ruled out of the game with the calf issue that curtailed his involvement in the last match against Paraguay.
