USMNT Propelled to Rousing Victory on ‘Dreamy’ Night in Los Angeles
Playmakers, debutants reflect on United States’ profound victory in its FIFA World Cup 2026 opener
LOS ANGELES – Four goals, a full house and a result that broke U.S. Men’s National Team records that have stood for decades. It was about as close to a perfect start to a FIFA World Cup as you could get.
The United States kicked off its FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign in emphatic fashion, dismantling a stout Paraguay side in a 4-1 romp in front of over 70,000 fans at Los Angeles Stadium in addition to a record 15.986 million on viewers on FOX and 8.9 million on Telemundo.
After racing out to a 3-0 halftime lead thanks to an early Paraguay own goal and a striking Folarin Balogun brace in his World Cup debut—the largest USMNT halftime advantage in a World Cup match—the Stars and Stripes didn’t look back, seeing out the victory in style.
"It was definitely a statement,” Balogun said of the victory. “Three goals in the first half of the opening game. I felt like it was a real statement, and that's what we wanted to do. I'm very delighted with the overall performance, but especially the first half."
The victory represented the USMNT’s highest-scoring World Cup match and also tied the record for the largest of margin of victory in a World Cup match, equaling a pair of 3-0 United States victories in the inaugural 1930 edition of the tournament.
While it was a night of firsts for the team, several players enjoyed inspiring individual achievements on the evening.
"I don't think I'm surprised,” forward Christian Pulisic said of the result. “I've seen us play like this recently. The guys were up for it, and we have the ability to play and do the things that we do on the ball and score goals. Today, the effort, everything was there. To me, it's not a huge surprise, but things were definitely clicking, and it's really nice.”
Pulisic—who became the USMNT’s all-time World Cup assists leader after his contribution to Balogun’s 31st-minute match-winner—helped spark the goalfest with his 21st USMNT assist.
Less than 20 minutes after his first goal, the New York-born Balogun secured his brace with an unbelievable top-bins finish just before halftime. After only one World Cup appearance with the United States, Balogun’s brace positions him among the top five USMNT World Cup goalscorers, and his two-goal performance marked the first time since Bert Patenaude's historic 1930 hat trick in which a United States player has scored multiple goals in a single World Cup contest.
"It’s a dreamy night,” Balogun expressed. “I haven't been able to take it all in yet. When I get back to the hotel and rest, I'm sure I'll really be able to be in the moment and experience how amazing this night was.”
"The fans gave me so much motivation and showed me so much support,” he continued. “The most important thing has always been to repay that. I want to continue to show the fans that I made the right decision, and I want to continue to make them proud as well."
It was a picture-perfect night for a collection of USMNT players. In addition to key first-half goal contributions from Pulisic and Balogun, midfielder Gio Reyna capped off the victory with an emotional exclamation point.
On an assist from Alex Freeman in his World Cup debut, Gio Reyna bagged his first World Cup goal through a slick trivela finish in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time. For Reyna, the goal was about more than the scoreline.
The dynamic midfielder used his post-goal celebration to publicly announce his wife’s pregnancy, tucking the ball under his shirt as the crowd showered him and the entire team surrounding him with thunderous applause.
“It was an emotional night for everybody. I think we brought those emotions onto the pitch in the right way,” Reyna said.
In total, seven USMNT players made their World Cup debuts: Matt Freese, Chris Richards, Sebastian Berhalter, Ricardo Pepi, Alex Freeman, Malik Tillman and Folarin Balogun.
Richards made his return to the lineup for the first time since March and dazzled in his first World Cup appearance. The 26-year-old completed all 83 of his passes, becoming the first player with that many pass attempts to record a 100% accuracy rate in a World Cup match since 1966.
"Whenever we play at the top of our game, we're a tough team to play,” Richards said. “Paraguay is a good team that did really well in qualifying against some tough teams, but we went out there and showed them a good game. We wanted to come out here and obviously win, but it was more about the performance, and that's exactly what we did tonight."
Heck of a World Cup debut for @eastmamba 🐍
— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 13, 2026
📊 via @OptaJack pic.twitter.com/ix9Tk7M4gm
Malik Tillman tallied his first USMNT goal contribution on the year, providing the assist on Balogun’s second goal. The German-born midfielder was propelled by a familiar face in the crowd.
"It was the first time my mom watched me live when I played for the U.S., so that was nice. It's an amazing feeling,” Tillman shared, grinning from ear to ear.
And for World Cup debutant Sebastian Berhalter—only one year and two days removed from his senior team debut against Switzerland—the son of former USMNT defender and head coach Gregg Berhalter made history, becoming the second father-son duo to represent the USMNT in a World Cup.
"Ridiculous. It's ridiculous,” Berhalter said following the match. “You have to believe in yourself because no one else is going to believe in you. If you have that belief in yourself, I think anything is possible. Just to be doing this right now, playing on the field, playing for my country in the World Cup, is something that I knew was possible, but it seemed so far away. To have this moment is incredible."
The team departed Los Angeles Stadium energized, focused and proud. Currently atop the Group D standings, the United States will travel to Seattle, Wash. to face Australia next Friday, full of belief.
"I think it's important to take each game at a time,” Balogun explained. “But [Pochettino] has said many times, 'Why not us?' We have to believe. You can't do anything if you don't believe in yourself. A 4-1 win against a tough Paraguay side is a good start, and now we look to recover and rest for the next game.”