The United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) arrived at Los Angeles’ So-Fi Stadium on Friday night with everything to prove and a home crowd of 70,492 ready to believe. What followed was the kind of performance American soccer fans have been waiting years to see. A relentless, confident, beautifully structured 4-1 dismantling of Paraguay that announced this team’s arrival on the world stage in the most emphatic terms possible
Folarin Balogun scored twice in the first half, Christian Pulisic was electric before departing at the break with a calf concern, and Giovanni Reyna put the finishing touch on a historic night with a sublime outside-of-the-foot finish deep in stoppage time. The four goals were the most the United States has ever scored in a single World Cup match.
Balogun Delivers the Brace the Country Has Been Waiting For
For all the anticipation that has surrounded Folarin Balogun since he switched his international allegiance from England to the United States in 2023, Friday night was the night it all came together on the biggest stage of his career.
His first goal came in the 31st minute. Pulisic pushed into the box with an audacious dribble, his cross deflected just enough to sit perfectly for Balogun, who side-footed home with total composure into the lower right corner. His second, arriving in first-half stoppage time, was something else entirely. Receiving a long ball from Malik Tillman, Balogun rode a sliding tackle, cut inside a second defender, and curled a left-footed strike into the upper left corner that sent the crowd into a frenzy.
“Yeah, it was definitely a statement, three goals in the first half opening game,” Balogun said afterward. “I felt like it was a real statement, and that’s what you wanted to do. So I’m very, very delighted with the overall performance, especially the first half.”
The last American to score more than one goal in a World Cup match was Bert Patenaude, who recorded a hat trick in 1930. Also against Paraguay, as it happens.
Pulisic Sets the Table, Then Exits Early
Before Balogun stole the headlines, it was Pulisic who controlled the tempo of the first half in a way that made Paraguay look hopelessly overmatched. He had a hand in the opening own goal in the seventh minute, splitting two defenders to slip a pass to Weston McKennie, whose cross attempt was bundled into the net by Paraguayan midfielder Damián Bobadilla. He assisted on Balogun’s first. He was everywhere.
Then came the question that put a small shadow over an otherwise perfect evening. Pulisic was substituted at halftime, telling reporters afterward that he had taken a kick to the left calf and came off as a precaution. “I’m really hoping that it’s nothing,” he said. The U.S. will need him healthy for what comes next.
A Team Performance, Not Just a Star Turn
What separated Friday night from previous promising USMNT performances was the completeness of it. The midfield trio of Tyler Adams, Malik Tillman, and Weston McKennie was dominant for long stretches, combining fluidly going forward and pressing relentlessly when asked to defend. Adams and Chris Richards each completed 100 percent of their attempted passes in the first half. The U.S. forced 10 high turnovers on the night and outshot Paraguay 16 to 9, allowing just one shot on goal.
Mauricio’s 73rd-minute free kick gave Paraguay a consolation and added a brief flicker of tension, but Reyna’s stoppage-time finish restored the margin and gave the scoreline the shape the performance deserved. Capping the game, Gio Reyna pretty much put all the 2022 controversy behind him and certainly justified his addition to the squad with a highlight class goal in extra time.
How This Compared to the Senegal and Germany Friendlies
The Paraguay performance did not arrive in a vacuum. The two warmup matches that preceded it offered a useful baseline for measuring just how far this team has come in a short time.
Against Senegal on May 31 in Charlotte, the U.S. won 3-2 but the result flattered the defensive performance. Pulisic and Sergiño Dest gave the Americans an early two-goal cushion, but Sadio Mane scored either side of halftime to level the match after Pochettino made ten changes at the break. Balogun provided the winner in the 63rd minute, but Senegal had moved the ball up the field with a freedom and fluidity that exposed real gaps in the American shape. It was a win, and an encouraging one given Pulisic’s return to the scoresheet after a five-month drought, but it was not a clean sheet performance. The defense gave Senegal’s attack too much room to operate, and the second-half chaos that followed the mass substitutions was the kind of thing that would not survive a knockout round opponent.
The Germany match one week later, played June 6 in front of a sold-out crowd of 63,636 at Soldier Field in Chicago, told a different story. The U.S. fell 2-1 in its World Cup send-off, with Kai Havertz heading home in the second minute and Leroy Sané finishing clinically after halftime. Antonee Robinson’s stunning 23-yard volley equalized before the break and gave the crowd something to roar about, but the Americans were tighter, more cautious, and at times a little passive against a 10th-ranked European opponent. The attacking freedom that defined the Paraguay match was largely absent. The U.S. competed with Germany, which was meaningful in its own right, but it did not impose itself the way Pochettino’s system is capable of doing.
Paraguay on Friday was the version that had been lurking inside both of those performances, finally fully realized. The press was sharper, the combinations were cleaner, and the attacking third was occupied with a confidence that neither Senegal nor Germany had been able to provoke.
USMNT coach Maricio Ponchettino postgame comments
On the fans:
“When you talk about America – that passion, that feeling – today, they were amazing. And now, they realize that soccer here in America is massive. It’s big. Be careful, other sports.“
On winning over new fans:
“Today, I am so proud, and we are so proud because we are winning a lot of fans and adding fans to the sport here in America.”
On staying focused:
“We need to enjoy the start of the tournament but know that we need to keep going and try to improve and try to do better than this game because all the games are very competitive.”
What It Means
The United States is three points up in Group D, with Australia and Turkey still ahead. The Pulisic calf concern is the one thread that could unravel things quickly if it becomes more serious. But for one night at Los Angeles Stadium, in front of the largest American World Cup crowd since 1994, this team delivered exactly what the tournament demanded of it.
The party is just getting started. US Soccer website. More soccer coverage from SRN
