US earns historic 4-1 win in World Cup opener
June 12, 2026, Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California
The U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) defeated Paraguay 4–1 on Friday, June 12, 2026, in their opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The match was played in front of a lively crowd of 70,492 fans at Los Angeles Stadium in Inglewood, California. Mauricio Pochettino's squad delivered a historic and commanding performance to secure 3 points in Group D. The four goals marked the most the U.S. has ever scored in a single World Cup game.
The U.S. opened the scoring in the 7th minute after an early attack initiated by Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie led to a deflection off Paraguay's Damián Bobadilla for an own goal. It was the fastest goal the U.S. has ever scored in a World Cup. The U.S. made it 2-0 in the 31st minute when striker Folarin Balogun timed his run perfectly to slide a low, left-footed shot into the bottom corner after a brilliant cross from Christian Pulisic. Right before the halftime whistle, Folarin Balogun fought off a sliding tackle, centralizing his look to smash a spectacular second goal into the upper left corner. With the stoppage time goal, the U.S. took a 3-0 lead into the half.
The U.S. took off Pulisic at the half for precaution, bringing in Sebastian Berhalter. The U.S. continued to dominate the match, but Paraguay answered in the second half when Julio Enciso slipped a short pass through traffic to Maurício, who scored low into the left side of the net. Deep into stoppage time, second-half substitute Gio Reyna sealed the historic 4-1 victory with a gorgeous, curling trivela shot from 10 yards out into the left side of the goal
USA - Own Goal (Damián Bobadilla) | 7th minute |
USA - Folarin Balogun (Christian Pulisic) | 31 |
USA - Folarin Balogun (Malik Tillman) | 45+5' |
PAR - Mauricio (Julio Enciso) | 73 |
USA – Gio Reyna (Alex Freeman) | 90+8' |
Lineups:
USA: 24-Matt Freese; 16-Alex Freeman, 3-Chris Richards 13-Tim Ream (Capt.), 5-Antonee Robinson; 4-Tyler Adams, 17-Malik Tillman (7-Gio Reyna, 82), 2-Sergiño Dest (21-Tim Weah, 72), 8-Weston McKennie, 10-Christian Pulisic (14-Sebastian Berhalter, 46); 20-Folarin Balogun (9-Ricardo Pepi, 72)
Substitutes not used: 1-Matt Turner, 25-Chris Brady, 6-Auston Trusty, 11-Brenden Aaronson, 12-Miles Robinson, 15-Cristian Roldan, 18-Max Arfsten, 19-Haji Wright, 22-Mark McKenzie, 23-Joe Scally, 26-Alex Zendejas
PAR: 12-Orlando Gill; 4-Juan Caceres (2-Gustavo Velázquez, 79), 15-Gustavo Gómez, 3-Omar Alderete, 6-Junior Alonso; 8-Diego Gómez (17-Alejandro Romero, 80), 14-Andrés Cubas, 16-Damián Bobadilla (11-Mauricio, 46), 10-Miguel Almirón (7-Ramón Sosa, 79), 9-Antonio Sanabria (18-Alex Arce, 62), 19-Julio Enciso
Substitutes not used: 1-Roberto Fernández, 22-Gastón Olveira, 5-Fabián Balbuena, 13-José Canale, 20-Braian Ojeda, 21-Gabriel Ávalos, 23-Matías Galarza, 25-Isidro Pitta, 24-Gustavo Velázquez, 26-Alexandro Maidana,
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