{"id":701293,"date":"2026-06-13T07:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T07:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/701293\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T07:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T07:32:15","slug":"world-cup-u-s-offense-shines-in-win-over-paraguay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/701293\/","title":{"rendered":"World Cup: U.S. offense shines in win over Paraguay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was a game eight years in the making. The first World Cup<\/a> match on American soil in more than a generation and the start of a tournament that has the potential to alter the direction of soccer in this country for the next generation.<\/p>\n

And the U.S. seized on every bit of that opportunity Friday, with Christian Pulisic<\/a> setting up two goals and Folarin Balogun<\/a> scoring twice in his World Cup debut, sparking an impressive 4-1 victory over Paraguay at a sold-out SoFi Stadium that was far more one-sided than the score indicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis being in America, having this crowd around us, seeing the red, white, and blue, all the red-and-white striped shirts in the crowd, it\u2019s awesome,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cIt\u2019s really pushing us forward. We just hope it continues like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The U.S., which needed a big effort to start the tournament, was on the front foot from the start, going in front to stay in the seventh minute \u2014 although it was Paraguayan midfielder Dami\u00e1n Bobadilla who got credit for the goal after stepping in front of Balogun and deflecting in a cross from Weston McKennie<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Highlights from the United States\u2019 4-1 win over Paraguay in World Cup Group D play on Friday.<\/p>\n

Pulisic, the American star who is under intense pressure to perform in this tournament, set up the goal, pushing the ball between a pair of defenders before poking it on for McKennie in the center of the box. Bobadilla then did the rest, inadvertently sticking his right foot in front of the ball and bouncing it by Paraguayan keeper Orlando Gil.<\/p>\n

Balogun appeared to double the lead coming out of the hydration break midway through the opening half, but the goal was negated by an offside call. That only delayed the second goal, however, with Balogun making it 2-0 by one-timing in a perfect feed from Pulisic from the penalty spot in the 31st minute. <\/p>\n

Balogun added to the U.S. advantage just before the intermission, running on to a perfectly weighted through ball from Malik Tillman, stepping through a challenge from Omar Alderete entering the penalty area and turning around Paraguayan captain Gustavo G\u00f3mez before left-footing a shot into the top left corner to complete his first brace for the national team and the first by an American in a World Cup game since 1930. That one also came against Paraguay.<\/p>\n

\"U.S. <\/p>\n

U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, center, celebrates with teammates after scoring his second goal against Paraguay on Friday.<\/p>\n

(Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Gil was just a spectator on the play, with no chance to best the save. The goal marked the first time Paraguay had given up three scores in a World Cup game \u2014 much less one half \u2014 since 2002 and it came at the end of what was arguably the best opening 45 minutes a U.S. team has played in the tournament in decades.<\/p>\n

Balogun immediately looked to where he said he had a large group of friends and family members watching in the stadium.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many. I had to sort a lot of tickets,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a dream, it\u2019s a dream night, you know? I\u2019ve not been able to take it all in after this.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also just the start of the World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first game is always the most difficult, to get the nerves out of the way,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you know we were able to do that really quickly. You want a result like this. It gives you a lot of confidence for the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n

1 <\/p>\n

\"U.S. <\/p>\n

2 <\/p>\n

\"U.S. <\/p>\n

3 <\/p>\n

\"Weston <\/p>\n

4 <\/p>\n

\"U.S. <\/p>\n

5 <\/p>\n

\"U.S. <\/p>\n

1. U.S. midfielder Weston McKennie celebrates after a goal in the first half. 2. U.S. defender Chris Richards, left, slides to kick the ball away from Paraguay forward Julio Enciso in the second half. 3. Weston McKennie sprints with the ball in front of two Paraguay defenders. 4. U.S. striker Folarin Balogun scores in the first half. 5. U.S. striker Folarin Balogun, right, celebrates with Weston McKennie after scoring in the first half. (Robert Gauthier \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n

Pulisic, who said he took a kick to his left calf in the first half, was replaced by Sebastian Berhalter to start the second, but the U.S. continued to dominate in every way it was possible to dominate, controlling the ball for nearly 60 of the 90 minutes and completing more than twice as many passes. Paraguay\u2019s first shot on goal didn\u2019t come until the 73rd minute when Mauricio, a halftime substitute, took advantage of a slow-reacting U.S. defense to pull a goal back.<\/p>\n

Gio Reyna then closed out the scoring for the U.S. with a goal deep in stoppage time.<\/p>\n

U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino also got a solid game out of center back Chris Richards, playing for the first time since tearing two ligaments in his left ankle a month ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really played well,\u201d Pochettino said. \u201cBut that is only the start. We need to enjoy the start of the tournament but knowing that we need to keep going and try to do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

This World Cup is the largest and most ambitious sporting event in history, with three host countries \u2014 Canada and Mexico, in addition to the U.S. \u2014 and a record 48 teams playing 104 games in 16 cities across four time zones. A long run by the U.S., playing on home soil, could excite a nation and give soccer the kind of boost it hasn\u2019t seen since 1994, the last time a World Cup was played here.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a World Cup and it\u2019s in America. People came out,\u201d McKennie said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people here that maybe have never come out to support us. But hopefully today, with this performance, they can see and connect with us. They can see the joy that we have when we play.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis electricity in the stadium, and the passion, even from Paraguay fans, that\u2019s one thing that\u2019s gonna change soccer here. I think a lot of people will be touched by the passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Americans will face Australia in the second of three group-stage games next Friday in Seattle, where a draw will all but guarantee them a spot in the round of 32, something Pulisic said should be just the first objective for this team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll in all, just an incredible start,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cBut there\u2019s a lot more stuff to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"U.S. <\/p>\n

U.S. players and coach Mauricio Pochettino, center, celebrate after a 4-1 win over Paraguay in the World Cup at Los Angeles Stadium (SoFi Stadium) on Friday night.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was a game eight years in the making. The first World Cup match on American soil in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[303232,23,34975,103,56978,16470,86471,303230,5460,40666,3,35381,968,2099,303229,303231,21,19,22,20,25,24,84938],"class_list":["post-701293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-31st-minute","tag-america","tag-ball","tag-canada","tag-christian-pulisic","tag-country","tag-folarin-balogun","tag-front-foot","tag-game","tag-goal","tag-news","tag-paraguay","tag-president-trump","tag-tournament","tag-u-s-team","tag-u-s-offense","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-world-cup"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}