Former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun scored twice as the United States kicked off their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with an emphatic 4-1 victory over Paraguay in Los Angeles.
The Monaco forward became only the second American player to score more than once in a World Cup match, following Bert Patenaude, who recorded the tournament’s first hat-trick in the inaugural 1930 edition, also against Paraguay.
The result equalled the USA’s biggest-ever World Cup victory, matching the 3-0 wins over Paraguay and Belgium in 1930 when the Americans finished third.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side made a dream start in the Group D encounter, taking the lead after just seven minutes when Paraguay midfielder Damian Bobadilla inadvertently turned Weston McKennie’s cutback into his own net following a brilliant run by captain Christian Pulisic.
Balogun thought he had doubled the advantage midway through the first half, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside. However, the striker was not to be denied three minutes later, firing home from a Pulisic assist before adding his second after latching onto Malik Tillman’s through ball and curling a superb finish beyond goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
Paraguay reduced the deficit after the break through Brazilian-born Mauricio, who capitalised on a pass from former Brighton forward Julio Enciso to beat Matt Freese. But the hosts had the final say as substitute Giovanni Reyna produced a moment of brilliance, curling a stunning 20-yard effort into the net with the outside of his right foot in stoppage time.
The convincing victory handed the co-hosts an ideal start to their World Cup campaign and underlined their ambitions of making a deep run in the tournament on home soil.
