World Cup 2026: Americans open with dominant win over Paraguay
· Yahoo Sports
In its first game in this North American World Cup, the United States men’s national team delivered a dominant first half allowing it to coast to a decisive 4-1 victory over Paraguay at a sold-out SoFi Stadium.
The Americans took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute on an own goal that stemmed from pressure created by Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie.
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After that Folarin Balogun scored twice, including a nifty strike in extra time to make it 3-0 at halftime.
Mauricio denied the Americans a shutout with a goal in the 73rd minute, but Gio Reyna pushed the lead back to three at 4-1 with a goal in the final minute to give the U.S. their most goals ever in a World Cup game.
Pulisic leaves early
After a terrific first half, American star forward Christian Pulisic came out at halftime with the Americans leading 3-0, a surprising move even with a big lead. There was no initial official report about the reason why.
According to the FOX broadcast, he told his family behind the bench that he was “O.K.”
Matt Freese, Chris Richards each start
Coming into the game, there were only two real questions about the American lineup:
Which goalie would Mauricio Pochettino choose?
Would Chris Richards be healthy enough to play?
Matt Freese, who started the Americans’ friendly loss to Germany and has been Pochettino’s favorite in recent months, got the nod in goal over Matt Turner.
Richards, who didn’t play in either friendly after suffering an ankle injury last month, not only played but started. He left the game briefly after a head-to-head collision, but returned quickly.
How this affects Group D
The Americans got off to a strong start in the Group D table, getting not only a win but a plus-three in goal differential.
GPWDLGFGAPtsUnited States1100413Turkiye0000000Australia0000000Paraguay1010140Australia and Turkiye will play Saturday at midnight.
Cards:
American captain Tim Ream initially received a yellow card early in the second half, but a new rule overturned the infraction as replay showed Miguel Almirón took a dive. The officials stopped the game and gave Almirón the card instead.
USA’s Tyler Adams and Paraguay’s Juan Carceres, Alex Arce, Diego Gomez and Junior Alonso were each also assessed a yellow.
Next up:
The Americans will face Australia Friday at 3 p.m. in Seattle, while Paraguay and Turkiye will play later that night at 11.
More World Cup 2026 Coverage
- World Cup 2026: U.S. gets dominant win, Brazil-Morocco on deck
- On home soil with a global audience, the U.S. opened the World Cup with a brilliant performance
- World Cup 2026: Scotland hopes to prove it has more than just great fans
- World Cup 2026: USA coach updates Christian Pulisic’s status after star’s early exit
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