USA impresses in opening match

By Josh Ortega

The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) opened its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with three points. As the final host nation to kick off their cup campaign, the U.S. dominated Paraguay in a 4-1 win at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday night after countless minutes, hours, days and months of preparation for U.S. Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino’s side. The stars and stripes put on a near flawless display to go atop Group D in the nation’s first home World Cup in more than 32 years.

From the opening whistle, the United States took control. After Paraguay’s early attempts, the suffocating press by the U.S. in Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1 forced Paraguay deep into their own halves while having to play around the United States pressure. Eventually, that pressure, along with an injection of offensive flair, forced Paraguay to crack early.

The stars and stripes went ahead after U.S. forward Christian Pulisic drove into the box, split two defenders, and played a short cross that Paraguayan midfielder Damián Bobadilla drove into his own net to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute of play. Paraguay’s gift not only put the U.S. ahead but went on record as the third fastest goal for the U.S. in a World Cup match. However, the score fest was only getting started for the U.S.

It was the same recipe across the first half for Pochettino’s side — press, press, press or play — piercing through balls to the outside for the full backs or wingers to find the forwards in the box inside. U.S. forward Folarin Balogun found himself on the end of one of those piercing through balls to double the U.S. lead midway through the first half.

Balogun scored his first-ever World Cup goal after Pulisic found him, finding spacing inside the box, after Balogun slotted in the U.S.’s second goal in the 30th minute to double the lead moments after having a goal called back for offside. But he wasn’t done quite yet.

Fifteen minutes later, to end the half, Balogun once again pierced his way through the Paraguayan backline, making space once he got inside the box, riffling in his second goal of the night into the top corner. With a brace on the night, Balogun became the first U.S. player with a multi-goal game since 1930. The U.S. continued to withstand and prevent Paraguay’s buildups and capitalize on dispossessions, with Balogun’s second goal putting Pochettino’s side up 3-0 heading into halftime.

Coming out of the half, Pochettino made one lone change to the starting 11, taking off Pulisic for midfielder Sebastian Berhalter. The U.S. star player leaving the game raised a plethora of questions in real time about his health after a high-flying first half. Pulisic spoke about his early substitution after the game.

“I just got a bit of a kick in the first half, so I’m really hoping it’s nothing,” said Pulisic after the game to Fox Sports Doug McIntyre after the game. “Taking a little bit of precaution today, but I’m hoping that I’ll be fine the next few days.”

With that, the U.S. game plan didn’t change and the USMNT continued to keep Paraguay on the back foot. The U.S. finished the game with 16 total shots on goal, with six on target, while dominating possession, finishing with 65 percent of the game’s possession with the ball.

Paraguay would find the back of the net late in the second half via forward Maurício, who blasted a first-time shot into the bottom of the net, capping off a late counterattack by Paraguay to open the scoring for La Albirroja. Pochettino’s side did not wilt; the stars and stripes continued to stay sound defensively while finding opportunities to play out of the Paraguayan press, which was the recipe for success for the U.S. scoring its final goal of the game.

In stoppage time, the U.S. broke off a counterattack where USA midfielder Giovani Reyna, who came on as a substitute in the 82nd minute, capped off the victory with the U.S.’s fourth goal in the 98th minute.

Reyna, who four years ago had a tumultuous tournament at the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar after a very public falling out with then U.S. Head Coach Greg Berhalter, put the exclamation point in the U.S. victory to end the night. With the final kick of the game, Reyna slotted a long-range trivela to secure the victory for the U.S. After an injury-riddled down season in the Bundesliga for Borussia Mönchengladbach, where Reyna managed only four league starts and roughly 500 minutes in total, Reyna was one of the biggest questions to make Pochettino’s World Cup squad in May. Nonetheless, the midfielder scored one of the biggest goals of the night to cap the U.S. biggest win in a World Cup since the 1980s.

The United States will take on Australia as the group stage play continues on Friday, June 19, at Lumen Field in Seattle. For Pochettino’s side, after a rollercoaster year heading into the tournament, his side put up the biggest victory across the three host nations and through the first two days of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.