Wave Staff and Wire Reports
INGLEWOOD — Folarin Balogun scored two goals goal and had another score waved off by an offsides call as the United State’s men’s soccer team opened the 2026 World Cup with a dominating 4-1 victory over Paraguay June 12 at SoFi Stadium.
The U.S. scored seven minutes into the match when playmaker Christian Pulisic set up Weston McKinnie. His shot deflected off a Paraguay defender and into the net for an own goal.
The U.S. looked like they made it 2-0 when Balogun found the back of the net but the goal was negated by an offsides call. Three minutes later. Balogu found the net again and scored his second goal during stoppage time at the end of the first half.
The 3-0 lead was the largest lead a U.S. had ever had in a World Cup game. The four goals overall also sat a World Cup record for a U.S. team.
The second half was not as explosive for the U.S., partly because Pulisic, their top player, sat out after getting kicked in the calf late in the first half. Before his injury, Pulisic triggered the potent U.S. attack.
“It meant everything for us,” Pulisic said later. “A half like that, for it to go as it did, and have the fans excited about our performance, it felt amazing.”
Maurício scored in the second half for Paraguay, but Gio Reyna ripped another goal in stoppage time at the end of the second half for the final score before a star-studded Los Angeles crowd of 70,492.
Coach Mauricio Pochettino didn’t try to compare this team with past U.S. World Cup squads.
“It’s difficult to compare with the past,” said Pochettino, who took over in late 2024. “I don’t know what happened in the past. I think we need to talk about today, because it was a great match.
“It was amazing for our fans to see, to watch this type of game, and today, I am so proud and we are so proud,” he added. “I think we are winning a lot of fans, adding fans for the sport here in America.”
“The U.S. won this match very clearly and fairly,” Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro said through an interpreter. “They dominated tactically, technically and physically as well. … This team is a complex challenge because they have answers to everything you throw at them.”
Pulisic was expected to be the U.S. leader this year, but Balogun was a pleasant surprise
The New York-born, London-raised striker, made his World Cup debut with the first multigoal performance from a U.S. player in the tournament since 1930. Balogun chose to represent the U.S. three years ago instead of staying in the English system, where he likely would have struggled to make the roster — and the 24-year-old Monaco professional has swiftly provided the top-level striker play historically lacking on U.S. rosters.
“[Pochettino] has said many times, ‘Why not us?’” Balogun said. “We have to believe. You can’t do anything if you don’t believe in yourself.”
Dozens of American celebrities and cultural icons turned out for the match, including Tom Cruise, George Lucas, Bill Gates, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Fox Sports announced 15.99 million watched the game, making it the most-viewed U.S. World Cup match on English-language television.
And the Spanish-language broadcast drew a total audience of 8.9 million across Telemundo, Peacock and Telemundo’s streaming platforms. It was the most-watched U.S. World Cup match on Spanish-language television network platforms, harking back to the 1994 World Cup, the first played in the U.S. that also attracted record TV audiences.
The two native Southern Californians on the U.S. roster, Cristian Roldan of Pico Rivera and Haji Wright of Culver City, never left the sideline.
The U.S. next plays Australia June 19 at noon in Seattle.
