CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – World Cup fever is gripping the nation this summer, and Wednesday is slated to be another major day of action with six games for fans to enjoy.

But on a rainy practice day at Charlottesville High School the day before, 34 players from the Charlottesville Blues prepared for their own big-time match.

The Blues, West Central Virginia’s only USL League 2 team, is currently second in their division and set to face first place Lionsbridge FC on Wednesday at 8 p.m. The match is so high stakes, it prompted Blues co-owner Brian Krow to send an email blast asking supporters to turn their heads from the six World Cup games planned for that day and rally around their local club.

The call went out to the Blues’ rapidly growing local fanbase. Just three seasons old, Charlottesville Blues FC were founded in 2023 as a pre-professional team that feeds higher-tier professional leagues like USL and MLS.

Summers with the Blues are spent keeping current or former college players and other pre-professional players on the field and competing within the Chesapeake division of the USL2 Eastern Conference. Among the 11 teams running from Baltimore to Virginia Beach, the Blues have come up fast, establishing themselves as a legitimate pathway to the professional level.

“I think the level here is higher than other USL2 Clubs,” center midfielder Graham Dougal, who is tied for second-most goals on the Blues with three, told Cville Right Now. “Here’s the best I’ve had.”

Under first year coach Brett Teach, who coaches NCAA Division I men’s soccer at Mount St. Mary’s and spent 14 seasons at VCU as an assistant coach, the Blues are coming off of a three-game win streak, having won or tied the last six matches. Taking over the Blues has been a relatively easy transition for Teach, as Charlottesville is situated between outstanding Division I programs at UVA, Virginia Tech and VCU along with other strong Division III rosters.

“Charlottesville has always been really attractive,” Teach told Cville Right Now. “I’d say the vast majority of our team is from within an hour and a half of here.”

But many hail from much farther, with players from Bahrain, Singapore, Uganda and Latvia, among others. Some, Teach noted, have left the squad at times to see their home country play in the 2026 World Cup – an event that has significantly amplified the spotlight on the United States as a home for the game for the first time since 1994.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Teach said. “I keep telling guys, ‘If you get the chance to go, you have to.’ Especially some guys if their country’s playing here.”

The addition of The Fox Den Sports Bar and Soccer Fields has also been a sparkplug for the club, a hybrid sports bar and soccer complex in Hollymead managed by the team’s co-owners that serves as the headquarters for the Blues and seeks to be Charlottesville’s “permanent soccer home,” its website said.

The physical space has helped to boost the club’s visibility throughout Charlottesville. But as one of the club’s founding members, Dougal added that the club’s move last season from playing matches at St. Anne’s Belfield School field to Charlottesville High School has revitalized their gameday atmosphere.

“The first year was at a smaller venue, really cool place out at STAB,” Dougal said. “But here with a bigger venue, we can get more fans, more support.”

Looking towards the end of the regular season, the club hopes their growing culture and capacity will concentrate Wednesday night to make the final push into playoff territory, rerouting their fans to the real heart of the Blues – 11 players with 90 minutes on the match clock.

“(Lionsbridge FC is) very physical, very direct, very strong, so it’s gonna be a tough game,” Starting goalkeeper Breno Zanolla told Cville Right Now. “We have to compete physically and let our play do the rest.”

Although another match against Bethesda FC and a second and final regular season meeting with Lionsbridge loom ahead, their first game is a chance to dethrone a club that has hosted a USL2 playoff for five straight years.

Teach doesn’t take it lightly.

“It’s really just a series of playoff games now,” Teach said. “I don’t think we can look at the next three games as a whole. You gotta look at the first 10 minutes, the next 10 minutes, the next 10 minutes. You do that all the way through, because what’s really difficult is if you’re worried about the road ahead, you sometimes take a wrong turn on the road you’re on.”

That road may have only started for the Blues three seasons ago, but under new lights and bolstered by greater support, its end is nowhere near.