LOS ANGELES STADIUM — A day before the USA men’s national team produced its most lopsided victory in almost a century’s worth of FIFA World Cup appearances, head coach Mauricio Pochettino mentioned something that felt like a throwaway remark at the time.
In their opening match of the 2026 tournament, the USA’s players “need to think tomorrow and play like they are a child,” he said, “and without pressure, without responsibility.”
Did they ever.
In front of a huge home crowd of more than 70,000 fans, Pochettino’s squad demolished a Paraguayan side that had qualified for this World Cup by conceding just 10 goals in 18 qualifying matches — beating Brazil and defending champion Argentina along the way — with a 4-1 win on Friday night.
The Stars and Stripes were brave. They were relentless going forward, the risk of a counterattack be damned. They suffocated their battle-tested South American opponent from the opening whistle and didn’t let up until the very end, when Gio Reyna added a beautiful fourth goal in the final seconds of stoppage time. The poor Paraguayans never knew what hit them, as the USA scored its most goals ever in a single World Cup match.
Most of all, the co-hosts played freely. Unburdened. Like kids.
“We just wanted to go out there and feel like how we felt whenever we would play pickup ball,” said midfielder Weston McKennie, whose attempted pass to Folarin Balogun in the seventh minute resulted in the own goal that sent the World Cup co-hosts on their way. “We wanted to go out there and just have fun.”
Weston McKennie (left) celebrates Folarin Balogun’s second goal with the American striker. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Just a few weeks ago, even diehard USA fans were wondering if their team was capable of a respectable showing at the second World Cup staged on American soil.
Badly outclassed by European powers Belgium and Portugal in March, supporters couldn’t be blamed for fearing the worst. A win over Senegal in their penultimate tune-up and a respectable loss to Germany last week restored cautious optimism.
Still, few could’ve predicted kicking off the World Cup campaign in such glorious fashion.
United States vs Paraguay Extended Highlights | 2026 FIFA World Cup™
After having a would-be goal ruled offside after review, striker Folarin Balogun scored twice, the second a left-footed rocket into the top corner of the visitors’ net. The U.S. dominated possession.
Paraguay scored in the second half on its only shot of the evening, but the truth is the home side could’ve even added a few more.
Still, it was a historically good showing on the biggest stage in soccer — one that they can build on as the tournament progresses.
“That’s the first performance that the fans can really be proud of,” veteran left back Antonee “Jedi” Robinson said. “We’re a competitive team, and we mean business.”
Now, the challenge is to do it again. As impressive as Friday night was for the Americans, it won’t mean much if they fail to win their next two Group D contests.
“We’ll try and put in another similar performance against Australia and Türkiye, and go from there,” said captain Tim Ream, who at 38 became the oldest American ever to appear in a World Cup match.
The key could be Balogun in attack.
It wasn’t immediately clear afterward if Christian Pulisic will be available for next Friday’s meeting with the Socceroos in Seattle. The U.S. headliner, who was involved in the first two American goals vs. Paraguay, took a kick to the left calf and said he’s “hoping I’ll be fine the next few days.”
Either way, Balogun’s presence takes some of the scoring load off of Pulisic. Speaking of history, the AS Monaco striker made some of his own on Friday, becoming the first American to notch multiple tallies in the same match in almost a century.
IChristian Pulisic celebrates with Folarin Balogun after a goal against Paraguay. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images)
“When you have a goal-scorer who’s confident like he is at the moment,” midfielder Tyler Adams said, “that’s huge.”
So is the World Cup experience that many of these players came into the competition with. Four years after starting 11 debutants in their opener at Qatar 2022, more than half of Pochettino’s lineup was composed of players who’d been there before.
“To win 4-1 against a team like Paraguay says a lot, especially in the opening game, but we also know that that’s just a start,” McKennie said. “This is something that we don’t want to over-celebrate.”
Not yet anyway. After all, they’ve still got plenty left to prove — to their doubters, and to themselves.
“It’s easy to do it in one game; you then have to back that up,” Ream said.
“That,” he added, “is obviously the goal for us.”
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