Balogun nets twice as USA demolish Paraguay 4-1 in World Cup 2026 opener

Folarin Balogun scored twice and the United States produced one of their most complete performances in recent memory, routing Paraguay 4-1 in their 2026 World Cup opener at Los Angeles Stadium on Friday in front of a sold-out crowd of 70,492.

The result was as emphatic as the occasion demanded. The Americans had scored just three goals across four matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar — and they matched that tally before halftime, with Balogun, Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic all contributing to a first-half display that had the pro-American crowd in full voice.

“For everyone who says soccer is boring, well, you had five goals today,” McKennie told reporters after the match, his hair dyed red, white and blue for the occasion. “So hopefully they might not say that anymore, and they’ll feel the electricity in the stadium and the passion by viewing the fans who have been with us for years and for decades.”

The opening goal arrived in the seventh minute. Alex Freeman sparked the move, McKennie made a sharp cut away from his marker, and Pulisic threaded a pass back to McKennie whose attempted ball toward Balogun deflected off Paraguay defender Damian Bobadilla and rolled into the net. It was a fortunate finish, but the crowd did not care.

Balogun then took over. The striker added two goals before the break — including one struck cleanly into the upper-left corner — to give the U.S. a commanding 3-0 lead at the interval. Gio Reyna also featured as the Americans continued to press in the second half.

“You know, watch some Netflix,” Balogun joked when asked how he planned to celebrate scoring twice on his World Cup debut. He had called the evening “a dreamy night” and admitted that the reality had matched his imagination. “Yeah,” he said with a smile. “It was pretty similar.”

Pulisic, who played a central role in the build-up play throughout, reflected on what the atmosphere meant to the squad. “It meant everything for us,” he said. “A half like that, to go as it did and to have the fans really excited about our performance, it felt amazing.”

The crowd included a notable cross-section of American public life, from Leonardo DiCaprio and Katy Perry to Bill Gates and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — a signal of the broader cultural moment the tournament is generating on home soil. McKennie acknowledged the wider significance, suggesting the World Cup could be a turning point for the sport’s popularity in the United States.

“One thing that’s gonna change soccer is having the World Cup here,” he said, “because I think a lot of people will be touched by the passion that a lot of fans have and the extent that they go through to be here.”