Folarin Balogun scored twice as the United States launched their FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign in style with a convincing 4-1 victory over Paraguay in their Group D opener at Los Angeles Stadium.

USA 4-1 Paraguay

USA scorers: Damian Bobadilla (7′ own goal), Folarin Balogun (31′, 45+5′), Gio Reyna (90+8′)
Paraguay scorer: Mauricio (73′)

Playing in front of a home crowd and a host of celebrities, the co-hosts produced one of their most impressive World Cup performances under coach Mauricio Pochettino to claim all three points.

Paraguay made an encouraging start, with Antonio Sanabria testing goalkeeper Matt Freese early on. However, the momentum quickly shifted in favour of the Americans.

The opening goal arrived after an excellent move involving Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic. The latter beat two defenders down the left before the ball was played across goal, where Paraguay defender Damian Bobadilla inadvertently turned it into his own net to hand the USA the lead.

The Americans continued to dominate proceedings, with Sergiño Dest going close before Balogun had a goal ruled out for offside.

The Monaco striker did not have to wait long to get on the scoresheet. In the 31st minute, Pulisic once again caused problems on the left flank before providing a perfectly weighted pass for Balogun, who calmly slotted home to make it 2-0.

Balogun doubled his tally deep into first-half stoppage time with a superb individual finish. Running onto an incisive through ball from Malik Tillman, he cut inside and unleashed a powerful strike into the top corner, giving goalkeeper Omar Gill no chance and sending the home supporters into celebration as the USA took a commanding 3-0 lead into the interval.

Paraguay attempted to mount a comeback after the break, introducing attacking midfielder Mauricio at halftime. The substitution had an immediate impact as the forward latched onto a clever pass from Julio Enciso before finishing clinically in the 73rd minute to reduce the deficit.

The goal briefly lifted the South Americans, but the USA quickly regained control. Tillman came close to adding a fourth but hesitated in front of goal, allowing Gill to make a comfortable save.

There was still time for Gio Reyna to put the finishing touches on an excellent American performance, scoring with a spectacular long-range effort deep into stoppage time to seal a 4-1 victory.

The convincing win gives the United States an ideal start to their World Cup campaign and plenty of confidence ahead of their next Group D encounter against Australia.