Trudeau reveals reason why he skipped Canada's FIFA World Cup opener

Jun 14 2026, 7:50 pm

Justin Trudeau attended a FIFA World Cup match this past week, but it wasn’t Canada’s opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

Instead, the former Canadian Prime Minister was soaking up the sunrays in Los Angeles on Friday, watching the United States men’s national team take on Paraguay. It seemed like an odd choice for Trudeau to skip out on Canada’s game in favour of the USA, especially with the tense political climate between the two nations.

Has Trudeau turned his back on Canada? Or was there another reason for this apparent betrayal?

It turns out that the 54-year-old ex-politician actually had a pretty funny and relatable reason for choosing the USA World Cup game over Canada.

“Sometimes supportive boyfriend duties call,” Trudeau wrote. “But you know who I’m rooting for to take the Cup.”

 

Trudeau is in a high-profile relationship with American pop star Katy Perry, who was on hand for the American opener to perform her song “Wonder” before kick-off.

It was a viral moment that has already amassed over 4 million views on YouTube. 

Trudeau and Perry were spotted sitting together in a suite during the match. The former Prime Minister was even seen cheering for a United States goal. It seems like the power couple was enjoying themselves.

The USA was able to win big in their opener, defeating Paraguay 4-1.

Unsurprisingly, this has drawn some mixed reactions from Canadian soccer fans, many of whom think that Trudeau should have been at the Canada game rather than supporting the country’s biggest on-field rival.

It remains to be seen if Trudeau will be heading to Vancouver anytime soon to attend one of Canada’s remaining group stage games against Qatar (June 18) and Switzerland (June 24).

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