The United States men's national team opened their 2026 World Cup campaign with a convincing 4-1 victory over Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium.
A crowd of 70,492 witnessed the match.
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The American squad played with an entertaining, high-energy style reminiscent of the Showtime era of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino had urged his players to perform with joy and intense focus during the home tournament.
Early Dominance and Goals
The US took control from the start, with Christian Pulisic and Malik Tillman troubling the Paraguayan defense and drawing two early yellow cards.
The opening goal came inside the first 10 minutes when Tim Ream passed to Alex Freeman, who played a well-weighted ball to Weston McKennie.
The Juventus midfielder advanced and squared to Pulisic, whose pass led to a shot from McKennie that deflected off Damián Bobadilla into the net.
Folarin Balogun extended the lead with two goals in a 20-minute span during his World Cup debut.
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He finished a cross from Pulisic in the 31st minute, then scored with the final kick of the first half after chasing a pass from Tillman and bypassing Gustavo Gómez to place the ball into the top corner.
Pulisic was substituted at halftime as a precautionary measure to protect him from aggressive challenges as Paraguay sought a comeback.
Paraguay tightened their defensive lines after the interval and pulled a goal back in the 73rd minute after a restart from goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
An attempted clearance by Tyler Adams reached Miguel Almirón, who passed to Julio Enciso before substitute Maurício guided the ball past US goalkeeper Matt Freese.
The goal exposed defensive vulnerabilities and highlighted concerns regarding Freese's hesitation to leave his line ahead of upcoming group stage matches against Australia and Turkey.
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Late in the match, substitute Gio Reyna secured the final scoreline by using the outside of his boot to guide the ball past Gill while Paraguay focused on preserving their goal difference.
