Paraguay could not have been more obliging guests from kick-off. In the seventh minute, Weston McKennie picked up the ball in the centre circle and drove upfield, finding Pulisic. Pulisic darted between two defenders and returned the ball to McKennie, whose pass to striker Balogun was bundled into his own net by a hapless Damian Bobadilla. The stadium erupted, and a US onslaught began. The hosts oozed confidence. Both McKennie and Tillman played backheel through balls into the area, while captain Tim Ream sprayed out
passes from the heart of defence. Balogun had a goal ruled out in the 28th minute. He had strayed offside, as had Pulisic in the build-up. But the Monaco striker had the ball in the net again three minutes later, thanks to a superb ball down the left flank by Antonee Robinson to Pulisic, whose cross to Balogun took a slight fortuitous deflection. The US added a third on the cusp of half-time. Tillman found Balogun down the right, who evaded Omar Alderete’s challenge, skipped
inside Gustavo Gomez and curled his shot perfectly into the top left corner.
USA Paraguay, Group D opener, Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Damian Bobadilla, Antonee Robinson, Tim Ream, Tyler Tillman, Omar Alderete, Gustavo Gomez