World Cup
World Cup 2026
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The USMNT got its home World Cup campaign off to the best possible start by easing past Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
The U.S. raced out of the blocks and took the lead when Weston McKennie’s cross was turned into the Paraguay net by the unfortunate Damián Bobadilla.
The outstanding Folarin Balogun then took center stage for the U.S., scoring two fine goals after seeing an impressive earlier finish ruled out for offside.
Paraguay’s Maurício pulled one back late on, but Gio Reyna restored the three-goal lead with a fantastic finish that crowned a dream evening for the USMNT.
GO FURTHER
USMNT relentless vs. Paraguay to win World Cup opener: Balogun stars; did Pulisic get hurt?
The Mauricio Pochettino Press is THE tactic of this World Cup thus far.
Weston McKennie said he got “goosebumps” on the field during the national anthem, looking around, seeing all the fans.
Said the night was exactly what he’d hoped it would be — but also stressed that it’s just a start.
Nothing is guaranteed, but by winning — and winning handily — the U.S. has all but punched its ticket to the knockout stage.
It’s a far cry from leaving it until the very end and sweating out the final moments of the group stage four years ago in Qatar.
According to The Athletic’s World Cup tracker, the U.S. now has a staggering 97 percent chance of going through to the round of 32. The expanded format, which sees eight third-place teams go through, certainly helps — but so too does a dominant performance.
There’s work to be done, as just going through isn’t the goal. That goal is winning the group, for which the U.S. has a 59 percent chance of achieving, according to the tracker.
By doing so, the U.S. would face a third-place finisher from Groups B, E, F, I or J. Anything less would figure to ramp up the degree of difficulty for that first knockout game.
Those scenarios will come into focus as the tournament unfolds but for the meantime, the U.S. could hardly have put itself in better position after one match.
Time and time again throughout the laborious buildup to the 2026 World Cup, the U.S. played in half-empty stadiums, in soulless environments, or even as an away team on home soil.
Tonight, fans met the moment just like their team. They began filing into SoFi Stadium four hours before kickoff, buzzing with excitement. There were American soccer lovers from many different walks of life — Black men and White men, Latina women and Asian women, grandparents and young kids, many wearing U.S. soccer jerseys or other paraphernalia.
Overpriced tickets had generated concern the match would not be sold out. But diehard supporters, many of whom jumped at dipping prices over the past week, decided they couldn’t miss this grand occasion.
They helped propel the team and the team propelled them; the virtuous cycle of emotion head coach Mauricio Pochettino has long craved came to fruition.
With the reaction continuing to come through from L.A. but with the immediate dust settling, it really is hard not to be impressed with what USMNT did tonight.
It looked well drilled and certain in what it was trying to do, and it did it with energy and power that blew away a Paraguay team that wanted time and patience. No chance.
Australia might just have to rethink any plans to approach its second game similarly to Paraguay. Equally, it will be a few games yet before we can truly assess just how good this U.S. unit is.
Still, that really is some start — when so much of all this is about belief and confidence.
I was just on the subway in New York City, coming from Brooklyn to Manhattan, and walked past six separate people on the platform who were all watching — either for the first time or replays — goals scored by USMNT tonight.
Which is very similar to scenes I saw during the Knicks game earlier this week.
That’s cut through.
Safe to say, there are going to be so many awesome photos from that game.
Many of them will make good posters.
But this one is just a beautiful bit of timing from Gio Reyna’s gorgeous fourth goal.
If you haven't caught World Cup fever yet — even after tonight’s win in Inglewood — fear not! There is plenty of time to get into it.
Four of the 104 matches are in the books with all three co-hosts up and running, two of them with wins and Canada fighting back to draw.
Thursday
Today
It’s so, so good for the tournament that all three host nations have turned up.
Will make such a buzz across the cities.
Mauricio Pochettino on the fans in Los Angeles tonight:
💬 “The fans were amazing. On behalf of the whole team, massive thank you to the fans. The energy translated to the team was amazing.”
According to TicketData.com, the lowest-price tickets — referred to as the “get-in price” for the USMNT’s next match against Australia in Seattle — have spiked over the last few hours.
They are now sitting at around $1,700 USD.
Demand appears to be skyrocketing after this U.S. performance tonight!
As well as the U.S. stars — Richards, Adams, Pulisic, Balogun — it was a good day for some of the lesser players too.
Experienced defender Tim Ream was solid and reliable, Sebastian Berhalter was effective off the bench, and Gio Reyna scored that gorgeous fourth goal too.
An all-round top performance where so many players contributed.
Sounds like it’s still quite in the mixed zone as our reporters wait for the players to come through.
But Tim Ream has been speaking to broadcasters after his night, so here’s a bit of what he said:
💬 “It’s an honor to lead the team and just to be part of the group. We’ve put in a lot of work and the guys have done a lot to get to this point.
“To put in a performance like that and get three points and start the way we have, is everything we wanted. Hats off to the guys — a lot of firsts, first goals … it’s been a good night overall.”
Well played yourself, Tim.
OK, we’re sorry … Maybe 22nd was a little cautious.
GO FURTHER
Re-ranking the 48 World Cup teams after day one of the tournament
Paraguay didn’t really want to press the U.S. backline at any point tonight, so that no doubt helped how Tim Ream and Chris Richards went about their work.
Still, it’s notable that Richards completed ALL 83 passes he attempted against Paraguay — which is the most passes with a 100 percent accuracy rate by any player in any World Cup match since 1966.
Another 60-year first!
Chris Richards, who returned from injury, and the highly experienced Tim Ream formed a stable base at the heart of the United States defence.
Ream became the oldest player to appear for the country at the World Cup, at 38 years and 250 days old.
He also Ream completed 23 line-breaking passes: the most by any player in a match so far at this year’s World Cup, and the most by a defender in a World Cup match since John Paintsil for Ghana against the U.S. in 2010 — a match which went to extra time.
Let’s bring you some more stats from a special night in Los Angeles.
First up — speed! USMNT’s opening goal in the seventh minute was the third-fastest goal by a host nation in their opening match at the World Cup: France scored in the first minute in 1938, Germany in the sixth in 2006.
The U.S. has now also won a World Cup match by three goals for the third time — the previous two both coming in 1930, with 3-0 wins over Belgium and Paraguay, respectively.
And one more. This is also the first time the U.S. has scored four goals in a World Cup match.
Thanks to our friends at Opta for those magic numbers.
It is only the fourth game of the tournament but that may well be the most dominant group-stage performance we will see at this World Cup.
Other than a small patch of sloppy defending that allowed Paraguay to get on the scoresheet in the second half, that was a near-perfect showing from USMNT.
A great way to build some early momentum for Mauricio Pochettino and his players.
Speaking of Folarin Balogun goals, he is the second player to score multiple goals in a World Cup match for USMNT.
The previous player?
Bert Patenaude in 1930 with three goals. So 96 years ago and yet … also against Paraguay!
Team Stats
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Game Details