 |
| LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 12: Folarin Balogun #20 of the United States celebrates scoring his team's third goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on June 12, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images) |
The U.S. national team reached multiple milestones in a historic 4-1 victory over Paraguay in the World Cup on Friday night at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
For the first time ever, the U.S. built a 3–0 first half lead in a World Cup, and the U.S. won its highest-scoring World Cup match ever. Folarin Balogun scored two goals for the U.S. and became the first multi-goal scorer in a U.S. game at the World Cup since Pert Patenaude. The former U.S. standout had a hat trick in 1930. Ironically, the U.S. also beat Paraguay in that match.
Even Weston McKennie’s opening goal for the U.S. had historic overtones. He had the third-earliest goal in an opening match by a host team in World Cup history, according to Opta. France did it in 35 seconds in the 1938 World Cup, and Germany did it in 5:08 in 2006.
With Friday’s win, the U.S. also produced its biggest output ever with four goals, and the U.S. scored three goals in a game for the first time since 2002. For the U.S., it also marked the first World Cup game on home soil since a 1-0 loss to Brazil in 1994 at Stanford, California, which also marked the last time the U.S. hosted the worldwide soccer event.
USA Came Out Strong Against Paraguay
Paraguay threatened first in the Group D match with a strong attack in the first three minutes, but U.S. goalkeeper Matt Freese made the stop in the first save of the match. The U.S. then attacked with Tim Weah’s shot, but the game stayed 0–0 with Paraguay keeper Orlando Gill’s save.
McKennie struck first for the U.S. just seven minutes into the match as he took the feed from Christian Pulisic, an AC Milan star. McKennie kept control against Paraguay defender Damian Bobadilla to punch in the goal.
As the U.S. controlled possession throughout the first half, opportunity arrived again when McKennie nearly scored his second goal in the 29th minute. Officials nixed it due to an offsides call, but the U.S. bounced back two minutes later as Folarin Balogun scored off of Pulisic’s pass. It marked Balogun’s 10th goal for the U.S. in international competition.
Despite that many goals, Friday marked Balogun’s World Cup debut with the U.S. The New York native opted for the U.S. in 2023 after time in the English soccer system.
Chris Richards tried to make it 3-0 for the U.S., but he hit it wide with his shot at the 37th minute. Balogun then made it 3-0 with his second goal, just 12 minutes later.
The U.S. held the 3-0 lead through most of the second half, dominating possession, but Paraguay got on the board at the 73rd minute as Mauricio put a shot past Freese. Julio Enciso set it up for Paraguay with the assist.
Gio Reyna then made it 4–1 for the U.S. after the 90-minute mark. The U.S. walked away with an opening win in front of 70,492, and it paled in comparison to the last World Cup appearance in Qatar for 2022. That year, the U.S. only scored three goals for the entire competition.
USA Still Has Paraguay’s Number
The U.S. won a fourth consecutive match against Paraguay on Friday, and the U.S. improved to 5-2-2 all-time against the country in the process. That includes the nation’s only other World Cup meeting in 1930 when the U.S. won 3-0 behind Patenaude’s hat trick.
The U.S. will take on Australia next in Group D play on June 19 at Lumen Field in Seattle. Australia opens Group Day play on Saturday against Turkey in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Another win helps the U.S. solidify chances to advance to the knockout rounds, which the U.S. has done in three of the past four World Cups. During the last World Cup in the U.S. in 1994, the U.S. made it to the Round of 16 and bowed out against Brazil. The U.S. went 4-1-1 that year.
- Matthew Davis
No comments:
Post a Comment