USA 4-1 Paraguay: Balogun's Double Powers a Record World Cup Opener
Folarin Balogun scored twice and the United States produced their first-ever four-goal World Cup performance, thrashing Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium to open their home tournament in style.
The United States could not have asked for a better start to their home World Cup. Mauricio Pochettino's side overwhelmed Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Friday night, with Folarin Balogun scoring twice in a dominant first half to launch the co-hosts' Group D campaign.
The opening goal came inside seven minutes — and it was the fastest the U.S. men have ever scored at a World Cup. Paraguay defender Damián Bobadilla turned the ball into his own net under relentless American pressure, settling any home-crowd nerves before they could build.
From there it was the Balogun show. The Monaco striker swept in his first on the half hour, then doubled his tally deep in first-half stoppage time, becoming the first U.S. player to score multiple goals in a single World Cup match since 1930. Christian Pulisic, pulling the strings as the creative hub, supplied the craft before being withdrawn at half-time "for precautionary reasons" after taking a kick — a substitution Pochettino will hope was purely cautionary.
Paraguay pulled one back through Maurício in the 73rd minute, but any hope of a comeback was extinguished in the eighth minute of stoppage time, when Gio Reyna — set up by Alex Freeman — curled a magnificent finish with the outside of his right boot into the far corner to make it 4-1.
The result is historic on multiple counts: it is the first time the USMNT have scored four goals in a World Cup game. There was a family footnote too, as substitute Sebastian Berhalter and his father, former U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter, became the second American father-son pair to both feature at a World Cup, after the Reynas.
"I visualized scoring, so to put that memory into action is amazing," Balogun said afterward. For a U.S. team that had lost three of four matches in 2026, it was the emphatic statement of intent the home tournament demanded — with Australia and Türkiye still to come in the group.
Sources: ESPN — USA 4-1 Paraguay, final score · CBS Sports — USA start World Cup with dominant 4-1 behind two Balogun goals · NPR — The U.S. dazzles in its World Cup opener
