USA 4-1 Paraguay - World Cup 2026 Match Report and Player Ratings

Balogun Double Stuns Paraguay in USA Win

A delicious double from Folarin Balogun was enough to help the USA to a convincing 4-1 win over Paraguay on their 2026 World Cup opener.

After Damian Bobedilla sent an unfortunate own-goal past his own keeper just six minutes into the game, the Monaco star sealed the affair with two fantastic finishes to render an eventual response from Mauricio obsolete.

Balogun Thrills in Convincing USA win

With fellow co-hosts Canada and Mexico laying down decent markers in their first matches of the tournament, the USA were coming into the clash with a bit of pressure on their shoulders. You wouldn't have been able to tell, though, with the American side keeping up some breathless early pressure on Paraguay.

It took just six minutes for this pressure to crack the visitors from the inside. National treasure Christian Pulisic (the Lebron James of "soccer" drove whistfully between a pair of challenges before cutting it to West McKennie in the box. The Juventus midfielder looked to cut it over again, but sent the ball into an unfortunate Damian Bobadilla to send an own-goal beyond Orlando Gill to break the early deadlock.

That pressure only grew as the first half went by. Another gorgeous bit of USA play saw McKennie release Folarin Balogun with a clever flick, who went one more with a pass into the right channel for Sergino Dest. Unfortunately for him, though, his first touch was awful and the eventual chance was missed.

USA continued to ensure that Paraguay would not be able to get any consistent foothold in the game, and their dominance only continued to stretch on as they managed to find the net again. Balogun got free to a great pass from Pulisic in behind to fire home beyond Gill, but the flag came up against the latter a few passes before the killer blow to deny the States of a second.

He didn't need to worry about missing out on a World Cup goal, though - Balogun got the ball into the net once again, this time with it counting. It was Pulisic once again causing the chaos, latching onto a great pass from Antonee Robinson down the flank before getting it central for Balogun. The Monaco star made no mistake with his finish, condemning a Paraguay side with no answers to a second first-half concession.

It was truly just a case of one-way traffic. A belter of a run saw Dest maraud down the right-hand side once more to release McKennie into traffic, and his cut-back was knocked between defenders and into the feet of Balogun - this time, Gill stood tall to deny him.

But the USA were not satisfied with a mere 2-0 lead to take into the interval. Balogun would be on hand once again, blasting home another for himself and a third for the States to settle the fixture before half-time.

An amazing pass in behind from Malik Tillman saw the in-form former Arsenal prospect race in behind. With work still to do, he eased his way past two Paraguay challenges with great composure and finesse, before bending a perfect strike into the top corner to hand Paraguay a mountain to climb in the second half.

Half-Time Scoreline - USA 3-0 Paraguay

After a tender withdrawal from the contest, goalscoreing hero Balogun had to be taken out of the action to grant a chance to Ricarco Pepi. However, Paraguay would remain brave in the face of their overwhelming doubters to get one back.

Gill launched a long free-kick down the pitch, which wasn’t dealt with by the United States defence, allowing Almiron to somehow control the bouncing ball before playing it through to Enciso. With presence of mind, the forward had the time to look to his left before hitting a pass out to the unmarked Mauricio, who finished with aplomb 27 minutes after his introduction into the affair.

The lead was still a mighty one for the Unted States, who looked to return to a three-goak cushion through Timothy Weah. The Marseille star was deployed at right-back, and made a burst towards the edge of the area to be found by Pepi. He struck with venom, but could only steer the strike over the bar.

Pepi was a busy man from the bench, and missed a big chance to give USA back their three-goal advantage. Another diamond of a ping from midfield found a breathless McKennie in the channel, who's pull-back into the feet of the Fulham target was sent over the bar.

Gio Reyna, a fellow substitute for the States, would wrap the affair up with a delightful finish. Played to feet on the edge of the area, the former Nottingham Forest man spun a delicious strike into the top-left corner with the outside of his boot to notch a famous fourth of the night.

There would be no more twists to this tale, however, and the USA got their World Cup started in a perfect fashion.

Full-Time Scoreline - USA 4-1 Paraguay

USA Player Ratings

• Matt Freese (6)

• Alex Freeman (6)

• Chris Richards (7)

• Tim Ream (7)

• Tyler Adams (7)

• Weston McKennie (8.5)

• Sergino Dest (7)

• Antonee Robinson (9)

• Malik Tillman (8)

• Christian Pulisic (8.5)

• Folarin Balogun (9)

• Sebastien Berhalter (6)

• Timothy Weah (7)

• Ricardo Pepi (7)

• Gio Reyna (8)

Paraguay Player Ratings

• Orlando Gill (5)

• Juan Caceres (4)

• Gustavo Gomes (5)

• Omar Alderete (4)

• Junior Alonso (4)

• Andres Cubas (5)

• Damian Bobadilla (2)

• Diego Gomez (5)

• Miguel Almiron (4)

• Antonio Sanabria (6)

• Julio Enciso (6)

• Mauricio (8)

• Alex Arce (6)

• Gustavo Valaesquez (5)

• Ramon Sosa (6)

• Alejandro Romero (6)

Man of the Match - Folarin Balogun

It could have been a few wearing the stars and stripes to be picked as our man of the match, like Pulisic, Robinson and McKennie, but we'll opt for the man at the double, Balogun.

He's made a splash in Ligue 1 this term with AS Monaco thanks to his goals, and he's took them back to North America with him from the looks of things, providing a cinical and highly-neccesary display to dismiss Paraguay at a relative canter.

Bad Day at the Office - Damian Bobedilla

Conversely, as we had multiple options for the USA, we had several for the worst players when it came to Paragauy.

There wasn't much Bobedilla could have done about the own-goal, but his general defensive play wasn't the best tonight either.