The United States Men's National Team got off to an ideal start to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, beating Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium (renamed Los Angeles Stadium for the tournament) in Inglewood, Calif., thrilling the partisan crowd with an historic performance — it was the first time a U.S. team has scored four goals in a World Cup match.
The Americans got on the front foot from the start, pressuring Paraguay's back line with direct play through the midfield which opened lanes for through-balls that got forwards and wingbacks into open space. From there, individual skill eventually paid off, with Christian Pulisic making a strong move past the right back into the box, followed by a subtle touch to Weston McKennie, whose cross atop the goal box to an open Folarin Balogun was deflected into the Paraguay net for an own-goal assigned to Damián Bobadilla in the seventh minute.
Balogun potted one in the 34th minute, guiding a crisp feed fromPulisicinto goal, then scored his second of the game just shy of the half, taking a precise midfield pass from Malik Tillman into the box, deking a defender with a soft touch to the left, then placing a confident, emphatic strike into the top-left corner.
Play was a bit more uneven by the Americans to start the second half, and directly after a two-player substitution, they yielded a goal to Paraguay's Maurício, who was left alone in the box due to some poor backline organization and a misplay by Tim Ream. Gio Reyna, a late sub,scored on the final play of the match, with the U.S. working a 20-pass sequence up the pitch and Reyna hitting a stunning goal off the outside side of his right foot inside the left post.
The Good:
• The win. There's a lot of pressure on this team to produce on home soil, and full marks to head coach Mauricio Pochettino to have the team composed and ready to deliver that performance in that setting. The three-goal margin was critical if the team finds itself in a standings tiebreaker on goal differential.
• Top players delivered.Pulisic had a brilliant first half, easily breaking past defenders and delivering accurate passes with good weight into the box. Balogun has been Pochettino's most reliable finisher since taking over the squad, and getting him on the score sheet in Game 1 will boost team confidence. Even more important, the moment wasn't too big for him. He was dangerous with most touches in the finishing third. Chris Richards brought his Crystal Palace form stateside and became the first player to complete 83 passes at 100 percent accuracy in a World Cup since 1966, while providing key support in the offensive and defensive thirds.
• Poch's system. It's been a long time since U.S. fans have seen the USMNT execute that level of attack. It was fun. And the 4-2-3-1 he deployed provided flexibility for skilled players in the back to work forward in the attack. Now it needs to be proven effective in a tighter game.
The Bad:
• Yes it was the first game, but there was a combination of panic, indecision, and poor decisions when the team had numbers advantages inside the box. The team played well enough to generate double the goal count if there were better tactics and decisions. A little more selfishness with shot attempts could solve some of it.
• The best time to fix problems is after a win and Paraguay's goal drew immediate attention to the disorganization that so often plagues the Americans on the back end. They were in position, then they weren't. Can't allow unmarked men time and space in the box.
• Tough to call out one player, but Sergiño Dest looked tentative, indecisive, and was poor on the ball — none of those qualities benefits Poch's system.
The Americans return to action on Friday, June 19th at 3:00 p.m. ET, taking on Australia at Lumen Field (Seattle Stadium). The Aussies open Group D play Saturday night against Türkiye, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
THE ASYLUM
Balogun leads U.S. to historic win
The United States Men's National Team got off to an ideal start to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, beating Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium (renamed Los Angeles Stadium for the tournament) in Inglewood, Calif., thrilling the partisan crowd with an historic performance — it was the first time a U.S. team has scored four goals in a World Cup match.
The Americans got on the front foot from the start, pressuring Paraguay's back line with direct play through the midfield which opened lanes for through-balls that got forwards and wingbacks into open space. From there, individual skill eventually paid off, with Christian Pulisic making a strong move past the right back into the box, followed by a subtle touch to Weston McKennie, whose cross atop the goal box to an open Folarin Balogun was deflected into the Paraguay net for an own-goal assigned to Damián Bobadilla in the seventh minute.
Balogun potted one in the 34th minute, guiding a crisp feed from Pulisic into goal, then scored his second of the game just shy of the half, taking a precise midfield pass from Malik Tillman into the box, deking a defender with a soft touch to the left, then placing a confident, emphatic strike into the top-left corner.
Play was a bit more uneven by the Americans to start the second half, and directly after a two-player substitution, they yielded a goal to Paraguay's Maurício, who was left alone in the box due to some poor backline organization and a misplay by Tim Ream. Gio Reyna, a late sub, scored on the final play of the match, with the U.S. working a 20-pass sequence up the pitch and Reyna hitting a stunning goal off the outside side of his right foot inside the left post.
The Good:
• The win. There's a lot of pressure on this team to produce on home soil, and full marks to head coach Mauricio Pochettino to have the team composed and ready to deliver that performance in that setting. The three-goal margin was critical if the team finds itself in a standings tiebreaker on goal differential.
• Top players delivered. Pulisic had a brilliant first half, easily breaking past defenders and delivering accurate passes with good weight into the box. Balogun has been Pochettino's most reliable finisher since taking over the squad, and getting him on the score sheet in Game 1 will boost team confidence. Even more important, the moment wasn't too big for him. He was dangerous with most touches in the finishing third. Chris Richards brought his Crystal Palace form stateside and became the first player to complete 83 passes at 100 percent accuracy in a World Cup since 1966, while providing key support in the offensive and defensive thirds.
• Poch's system. It's been a long time since U.S. fans have seen the USMNT execute that level of attack. It was fun. And the 4-2-3-1 he deployed provided flexibility for skilled players in the back to work forward in the attack. Now it needs to be proven effective in a tighter game.
The Bad:
• Yes it was the first game, but there was a combination of panic, indecision, and poor decisions when the team had numbers advantages inside the box. The team played well enough to generate double the goal count if there were better tactics and decisions. A little more selfishness with shot attempts could solve some of it.
• The best time to fix problems is after a win and Paraguay's goal drew immediate attention to the disorganization that so often plagues the Americans on the back end. They were in position, then they weren't. Can't allow unmarked men time and space in the box.
• Tough to call out one player, but Sergiño Dest looked tentative, indecisive, and was poor on the ball — none of those qualities benefits Poch's system.
The Americans return to action on Friday, June 19th at 3:00 p.m. ET, taking on Australia at Lumen Field (Seattle Stadium). The Aussies open Group D play Saturday night against Türkiye, in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!