U.S. 4-1 – Folarin Balogun struck twice as the United States tore through Paraguay on Friday night, opening its first home World Cup in 32 years with a 4-1 win powered by a three-goal first half and Gio Reyna’s injury-time finish.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The U.S. didn’t just start its first home World Cup in 32 years with a win. It started with a statement in front of a packed SoFi Stadium, a 70,492-strong, Southern California crowd that watched an electric first half turn Friday night into a highlight reel.
Folarin Balogun scored twice during the Americans’ historic three-goal opening period, and the U.S. completed its most lopsided World Cup win with a 4-1 victory over Paraguay. Christian Pulisic provided the creative spark all night. finishing with an assist in a first-half performance that helped the U.S. race to a 3-0 halftime lead — its largest margin in any World Cup match.
Paraguay did find a response after the break, with Maurício scoring in the second half, but the damage was already done. Gio Reyna added a fourth U.S. goal in the dying moments of second-half injury time, giving the Americans four goals in a World Cup match for the first time.
The speed of the U.S. turnaround was impossible to ignore. The Americans had scored only three goals combined in their four matches at the Qatar World Cup four years ago. and they had never scored more than three in a World Cup game. In this tournament’s first home outing. they looked transformed under new coach Mauricio Pochettino’s more creative system. pressing forward with purpose and belief while playing in front of a star-studded Los Angeles crowd.
The scoring started early in a way that set the tone: the U.S. took the lead on an own goal created by Pulisic’s playmaking. Then Balogun struck in the 31st minute, before finding the net again in the fifth minute of first-half injury time.
Balogun’s night carried a broader weight for U.S. football. 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. He 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 Three Lions’ roster. At 24 years old. with his Monaco professional career now in focus. he has quickly provided the kind of top-level striker play that has historically been missing on U.S. rosters.
Pulisic was replaced by Sebastian Berhalter at halftime, but the U.S. didn’t immediately clarify whether the AC Milan standout was injured. Pulisic appeared to signal to family in the stands that he was fine.
What made the first half so relentless was how Pulisic kept creating chances with left-side runs. In the seventh minute, he split two defenders and passed to Weston McKennie. McKennie’s centring touch struck Paraguay midfielder Damián Bobadilla’s outstretched foot and went in. sparking pandemonium in the SoFi Stadium stands.
The U.S. then continued to build momentum around that same attacking vein. Three minutes after an apparent Balogun goal was erased by an offside call, Pulisic drove the left side again and released a deflected pass to the trailing Balogun, who banged it home.
As first-half injury time wound down, Malik Tillman weighted a long pass to a streaking Balogun. Balogun held up to create space and fired a brilliant shot into the far top corner.
The second half didn’t carry the same cohesion without Pulisic, but the U.S. still found the finishing touch. Reyna’s goal came sweetly, as he glided into the box and toe-flicked home his first World Cup goal. It was a moment that carried personal meaning too. because Reyna barely played at the Qatar World Cup amid a messy family dispute with former U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter.
For the crowd, the night felt bigger than just a result. Dozens of American celebrities and cultural icons turned out for the match 10 miles south of Hollywood, including Tom Cruise, George Lucas, Bill Gates, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
U.S. World Cup Paraguay Folarin Balogun Christian Pulisic Gio Reyna Mauricio Pochettino Sebastian Berhalter Damián Bobadilla Weston McKennie Malik Tillman Maurício
4-1?? USA back like they never left.
So Reyna just scored at the end… but wait did he even play? I saw something earlier that said he was hurt?? Either way Balogun with 2 is wild. Also home World Cup in LA is kinda crazy.
I mean Pulisic “creative spark” but it was an own goal too right? Feels like Paraguay kind of gave it away. Like if they didn’t mess up, this is way closer. Idk I’m just saying the headline makes it sound like pure dominance but it was probably chaos.
I’m not even sure why people are acting shocked, the USA scored 4 in a match like that one time… also isn’t this basically the same as the Qatar team?? Like coaching change, press forward, blah blah. But hey, Pochettino better keep it up because 32 years is a long time to be mediocre. Crowd looked intense though.