LOS ANGELES — The United States Men’s National Team could hardly have asked for a better start to its FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign.
Backed by a crowd of 70,492 at Los Angeles Stadium, the Americans defeated Paraguay 4-1 on Friday night to take an early lead in Group D. Folarin Balogun delivered a historic performance with two first-half goals, while Gio Reyna added a late strike as Mauricio Pochettino’s side opened the tournament with three points.
The victory marked the highest-scoring World Cup match in U.S. men’s national team history and tied the country’s largest margin of victory in the competition.
Both teams showed attacking intent from the opening whistle, with Paraguay forcing Matt Freese into an early save less than two minutes into the goalkeeper’s World Cup debut. The United States responded immediately and broke through in the seventh minute.
Christian Pulisic sparked the attack with a dazzling run through two defenders before combining with Weston McKennie inside the penalty area. McKennie’s cross toward Balogun was inadvertently redirected into the net by Paraguayan midfielder Damián Bobadilla, giving the Americans a 1-0 advantage.
The U.S. nearly doubled its lead in the 28th minute when Balogun found the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside. The striker made sure the disappointment was short-lived.
Three minutes later, Pulisic again provided the service, driving into the box and delivering a pinpoint cross that Balogun finished into the lower corner for his first career World Cup goal and a 2-0 lead.
Balogun wasn’t finished.
In first-half stoppage time, Malik Tillman played a long ball that sent the Monaco striker racing into the area. After riding a challenge and evading another defender, Balogun curled a sensational left-footed shot into the upper corner to give the United States a commanding 3-0 halftime advantage.
The two-goal performance made Balogun just the second American player to score multiple goals in a World Cup match, joining Bert Patenaude, who recorded a hat trick against Paraguay in the inaugural tournament in 1930. It also marked the first brace of Balogun’s international career.
Paraguay pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute when Mauricio found the net after a free-kick sequence, but the Americans never appeared threatened.
Instead, they capped the evening with one final moment of brilliance.
Deep into stoppage time, substitute Gio Reyna received a pass from Alex Freeman and unleashed a clever outside-of-the-foot finish that curled into the corner to make it 4-1 and put an exclamation point on a dominant performance.
The United States outshot Paraguay 16-9 while limiting the South Americans to just one shot on target.
With the victory, the Americans moved to the top of Group D and now turn their attention to Australia, whom they will face June 19 in Seattle. The group stage concludes June 25 against Türkiye in Los Angeles as the U.S. looks to secure a place in the knockout rounds.
