There are performances that meet expectations, and then there are performances that reset them entirely. What the USAÂ men’s national soccer team produced at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on Friday night fell squarely into the second category.
Team USA dismantled Paraguay 4-1 in their opening Group D match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It was the kind of performance that turns the casually curious into believers, and it came on the biggest stage the country has ever hosted.
Folarin Balogun was the architect of much of the damage. The 24-year-old striker opened his account in the 31st minute, then doubled it just before halftime to put USA up 3-0 going into the break. His second goal came after a previous effort was ruled out for offside, a call that barely slowed his momentum. With two World Cup goals to his name, Balogun became only the second American player in history to score more than once in a single World Cup match, joining Bert Patenaude, who scored the tournament’s first-ever hat trick in 1930 against the same opposition.
The first goal, though, arrived courtesy of an unfortunate deflection. A USA attack created chaos inside Paraguay’s penalty area, and defender Damián Bobadilla redirected the ball into his own net in the seventh minute. Credit to Christian Pulisic for the relentless pressing and footwork that set the moment in motion.
Pulisic exits, but the damage was already done
Pulisic, playing in front of a thunderous home crowd, was substituted at halftime after taking a knock to his left calf during the first 45 minutes. Coach Mauricio Pochettino made the cautious call, and Pulisic himself downplayed the issue afterward. The Americans had done enough by then. In the first half, USA controlled 72% of possession and restricted Paraguay to virtually no meaningful chances at goal.
The second half was a quieter affair. Paraguay pulled one back through Mauricio in the 73rd minute, cutting the deficit to 3-1 and offering a brief flicker of life. It did not last.
In the final seconds of the match, midfielder Giovanni Reyna, who came on as a substitute, capped the night with a trivela finish that sealed a 4-1 victory. The goal was the product of more than 20 passes, each one deliberate, each one building toward something that felt entirely intentional. It was Reyna’s first-ever World Cup goal, and he chose the most theatrical moment imaginable to score it.
A record that has stood since 1930
The significance of the scoreline runs deeper than the occasion. USA had never scored four goals in a World Cup match before Friday. Their joint-biggest win at the tournament was a 3-0 result against Paraguay and then Belgium in 1930, the year the competition began. That record stood for 96 years.
The 2022 World Cup in Qatar offered limited optimism. USA scored only three goals across four matches and exited in the round of 16. Friday’s performance alone matched that total, and it did so before the 90th minute.
Possession finished at 65% for USA compared to 35% for Paraguay. The Americans recorded six shots on target. Paraguay managed one.
What comes next for team USA
The result does not clinch anything, but it positions the US well in a tournament where the expanded 48-team format means points accumulated early carry significant weight. Their next group stage match is against Australia on June 19 at 3 p.m. ET at Lumen Field in Seattle. A week after that, on June 25 at 10 p.m. ET, they face Turkey in Los Angeles.
Head coach Pochettino has faced persistent scrutiny since taking charge of the team in 2024. Friday’s performance will quiet some of that noise, at least temporarily. The question now is whether the US can sustain it.
For one night in Inglewood, with fireworks already spent and a sold-out SoFi Stadium still buzzing, the answer was an unambiguous yes.
