13 June 2026, Los Angeles — The last of the three co-hosts finally took the stage, and what an entrance it was. Under the shimmering lights of SoFi Stadium — with Katy Perry’s opening ceremony still ringing in 70,000 ears — the United States didn’t just beat Paraguay. They dismantled them. They ran through them. They made a statement so loud that every other contender in this tournament will have heard it.

The final score: 4-1. But the numbers don’t capture the feeling. This was a physical demolition, a showcase of athletic superiority that left Paraguay’s players — proud South Americans, hardened by CONMEBOL’s brutal qualifying gauntlet — looking like they belonged in a different weight class.

Six Minutes of Chaos

The first five minutes belonged to Paraguay. They pressed high, moved the ball with the kind of swagger that has made South American football legendary. For a fleeting moment, the 70,000 American fans in the stands felt a flicker of anxiety. Was this going to be difficult?

Then Christian Pulisic got the ball.

In the seventh minute, the AC Milan winger — America’s captain, its talisman, its beating heart — surged down the left flank. He left one defender in his wake, then another. His cut-back found Weston McKennie, whose stabbed effort was heading harmlessly wide… until Paraguayan midfielder Damian Bobadilla stretched out a desperate leg and diverted the ball into his own net.

SoFi Stadium erupted. Bobadilla sank to his knees, hands covering his face. The kind of moment that haunts a player for the rest of his career. 1-0 to the United States, and the floodgates were already creaking.

The Hydration Break That Broke Paraguay

In the 25th minute, the referee called for a cooling break. Paraguay’s players — already gasping, already chasing shadows — huddled around their coach, trying to reorganise. They had three minutes to catch their breath.

It wasn’t enough. It might have made things worse.

The moment play resumed, the United States attacked like a team that had just been plugged into a power socket. Pulisic, again, was the architect. He burst down the left, drew three defenders, and squared the ball across the six-yard box. Folarin Balogun — the Monaco striker who grew up between New York and London, who chose to represent the United States over England — arrived at the far post and tapped home. 2-0.

Paraguayan media would later fume: “Did the hydration break just recharge the Americans? The weather wasn’t even that hot — should the rule even have been applied?”

The honest answer? It wouldn’t have mattered. This wasn’t about water. This was about a team that was simply bigger, faster, stronger — and knew exactly how to use it.

Balogun’s Night

If the first goal was a poacher’s finish, the second was a statement of intent. Deep into first-half stoppage time, Balogun received a through ball on the edge of the box. Paraguayan centre-back Omar Alderete tried to body him off the ball — a standard South American defensive move, the kind that works nine times out of ten in CONMEBOL.

Balogun didn’t budge. He shrugged off Alderete like a man brushing lint from his shoulder, took one touch to set himself, and rifled a shot into the roof of the net. 3-0.

The 22-year-old ran to the corner flag, slid on his knees, and was buried under a pile of red, white and blue shirts. Two goals on his World Cup debut. The kid from Brooklyn — via Arsenal’s academy, via Reims, via Monaco — had arrived on the biggest stage of all.

The Final Word

The second half was a different game. Pochettino, ever the pragmatist, instructed his team to manage the lead. The frantic pressing eased, the tempo dropped. Paraguay, to their credit, kept fighting. In the 72nd minute, substitute Mauricio found a rare gap in the American defence and slotted home. 3-1. A consolation, but a proud one.

Then, deep into stoppage time, the Americans delivered one last punch. Giovanni Reyna — the Borussia Dortmund playmaker, the son of a USMNT legend, the player they call “Captain America’s heir” — picked up the ball on the edge of the area. One touch to control, another to set, and a third to unleash a rocket into the top corner.

4-1. Reyna didn’t celebrate wildly. He just spread his arms and smiled — the smile of a man who knew exactly what he’d just done, and exactly what it meant.

Thirty-Two Years in the Making

In 1994, when the United States last hosted the World Cup, there was no Major League Soccer. Football was a niche sport. The idea that America could produce a team capable of bullying a South American opponent off the pitch would have been laughable.

Tonight, in the stadium that hosted the Super Bowl, the United States didn’t just win a football match. They marked their territory. They told the world: this is our tournament too.

Pochettino, standing on the touchline in his impeccably tailored suit, allowed himself a small nod of satisfaction. When asked afterwards how far this team could go, he smiled. “We’ve only just started.”

Group D Standings

PosTeamPWDLGFGAGDPts
1United States110041+33
2Australia110020+23
3Turkiye100102-20
4Paraguay100114-30

Upcoming Fixtures

Sources: SBS Sport, USA Today, Xinhua/Xinmin Evening News, ESPN

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