The United States men's national soccer team secured a historic 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday night in its 2026 FIFA World Cup opening match at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
The Americans surged to a 3-0 halftime advantage, marking the largest halftime lead for the national team in any World Cup game, according to Houston Public Media.
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Folarin Balogun scored twice during the first half, making his World Cup debut as the first U. S.
player to record a multi-goal performance in the tournament since 1930.
Christian Pulisic drove the offensive attack by creating the first two U. S.
goals, which included a seventh-minute play that resulted in an own-goal by Paraguay midfielder Damián Bobadilla.
Pulisic left the game at halftime due to calf tightness after being kicked in the leg, but the team extended its lead in the final moments of second-half injury time with a goal from Gio Reyna.
The performance occurred in front of a star-studded crowd of 70,492 spectators in Southern California, including celebrities like Tom Cruise, George Lucas, Bill Gates, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Local Enthusiasm in Houston
The match was streamed live to roughly 400 fans at a free watch party at Rice University's Ion District in Houston, Texas, where seven upcoming tournament matches are scheduled to be played.
Rice University President Reginald DesRoches spoke to Houston Public Media regarding the local fan enthusiasm surrounding the tournament following the opening U.
