USA thump Paraguay in Group D opener

United States got off to a dream start as co-hosts of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, thrashing Group D rivals Paraguay 4-1 at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Saturday morning.

The Stars and Stripes hit four goals in a World Cup fixture for the first time, with Folarin Balogun netting twice in the first half after an early own goal had given them the advantage, and Gio Reyna put the cherry on top with a beautifully-taken fourth deep in injury time at the end of the game.

Christian Pulisic was the driving force for the co-hosts through a great first-half performance, forcing the own-goal in the seventh minute by splitting a pair of defenders, and his ball helped on by Weston McKennie found the back of the net via the foot of Paraguay’s Damian Bobadilla.

Pulisic then provided the assist for the second goal in the 31st minute, picking out a fine pass for Balogun, who side-footed home for 2-0.

With the last action of the first half, the USA rounded off a near-perfect display when Balogun ran onto Malik Tillman’s through ball, cut inside two defenders and curled the ball into the top corner.

The co-hosts eased off the throttle in the second half and Paraguay got a goal back 17 minutes from the end of regulation time when Julio Enciso linked up with Miguel Almirón before sliding the ball across for half-time sub Maurício to guide past Matt Freese for a maiden senior international goal.

However, the USA would have the final say deep in injury time when substitute Gio Reyna curled home a fantastic effort with the outside of his right foot for a 4-1 triumph.

The teams will resume their Group D campaigns next weekend, with United States tackling Australia in Seattle on the evening of Friday 19 June (9pm CAT), while Paraguay will face Turkey in Santa Clara on the morning of Saturday 20 June (5am CAT).

United States (3) 4 (D. Bobadilla og 7’, F. Balogun 31’ 45+5’, G. Reyna 90+8’)

Paraguay (0) 1 (Mauricio 73’)

USA: M. Freese, A. Freeman, C. Richards, T. Ream, A. Robinson, T. Adams, M. Tillman (G. Reyna 82’), S. Dest (T. Weah 72’), W. McKennie, C. Pulisic (S. Berhalter 46’), F. Balogun (R. Pepi 72’)

Paraguay: O. Gill, J. Caceres (G. Velasquez 79’), G. Gomez, O. Alderete, J. Alonso, D. Gomez (Kaku 80’), A. Cubas, D. Bobadilla (Mauricio 46’), M. Almiron (R. Sosa 79’), A. Sanabria (A. Arce 62’), J. Enciso