{"id":912699,"date":"2026-06-14T13:13:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T18:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/14\/usa-send-world-cup-statement-with-opening-win-vs-paraguay-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T13:13:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T18:13:21","slug":"usa-send-world-cup-statement-with-opening-win-vs-paraguay-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/14\/usa-send-world-cup-statement-with-opening-win-vs-paraguay-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"USA send World Cup statement with opening win vs. Paraguay | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div role=\"main\" id=\"main-content\" tabindex=\"-1\" aria-label=\"Page main content\" xmlns:xlink=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/1999\/xlink\">\n<div data-bucket-name=\"main-content-before-middle-adv\">\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/clubs\/us-men-s-national-team\/\">United States<\/a> delivered a resounding\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/2026\/matches\/usavspry-06-12-2026\/\">4-1 victory<\/a> over Paraguay to open their 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/\">FIFA World Cup<\/a> campaign on Friday evening, sending a statement in Group D&#8217;s opening match at Los Angeles Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>The tournament co-hosts soared to a 3-0 halftime lead behind Folarin Balogun&#8217;s brace and an early Paraguay own goal forced by combination play from Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Then, Giovanni Reyna&#8217;s outside-the-foot strike deep into second-half stoppage time gave the USMNT their most-ever goals (four) in a World Cup match.<\/p>\n<p>The USMNT&#8217;s only blemish came in the 73rd minute when Maur\u00edcio pulled one back for Paraguay,\u00a0who are playing at their first World Cup since 2010.<\/p>\n<p>The US, hosting their first World Cup game since the 1994 tournament, played before a sell-out crowd of 70,492 fans. They&#8217;ll next visit Seattle on June 19 to face Australia, hoping to secure a Round of 32 spot with another victory.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>Goals<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>7&#8242; &#8211; USA &#8211; Dami\u00e1n Bobadilla (OG) | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOXSports\/status\/2065603330378772647\">WATCH<\/a><\/li>\n<li>31&#8242; &#8211; USA &#8211; Folarin Balogun | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/status\/2065608672051433980\">WATCH<\/a><\/li>\n<li>45+5&#8242; &#8211; USA &#8211; Folarin Balogun | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/i\/status\/2065613476756648101\">WATCH<\/a><\/li>\n<li>73&#8242; &#8211; PRY &#8211; Maur\u00edcio | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOXSports\/status\/2065624986996396502\">WATCH<\/a><\/li>\n<li>90+8&#8242; &#8211; USA &#8211; Giovanni Reyna |\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOXSports\/status\/2065631094494449671\">WATCH<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\n                                <iframe data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BXD1_mhODBU?feature=oembed\" allowfullscreen title=\"United States vs Paraguay Highlights | 2026 FIFA World Cup\u2122\"><\/iframe>\n                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>Three Things<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>THE BIG PICTURE:<\/strong> At risk of sounding hyperbolic, the USMNT put together arguably the program&#8217;s best-ever half at a World Cup. Then, they saw out the match to take the Group D lead. Head coach Mauricio Pochettino&#8217;s side capitalized on home-field advantage and has one foot in the knockout rounds.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">32 years in the making. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qkqoeqDFTQ\">pic.twitter.com\/qkqoeqDFTQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 U.S. Soccer Men&#8217;s National Team (@USMNT) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USMNT\/status\/2065601594117484787?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>MOMENT OF THE MATCH:<\/strong> Giovanni Reyna&#8217;s late strike capped a sweeping team move and required top-end skill. My word.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">GIO REYNA WITH CHERRY ON TOP! \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/USMNT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USMNT<\/a> WINS 4-1! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/sYnNXYdIWe\">pic.twitter.com\/sYnNXYdIWe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 FOX Sports (@FOXSports) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOXSports\/status\/2065631094494449671?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>MAN OF THE MATCH:<\/strong> With a first-half brace, Folarin Balogun is the easy pick. Fans will be watching his second goal on repeat.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<div>\n<blockquote><p>\u2014 FOX Sports (@FOXSports) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FOXSports\/status\/2065613476756648101?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><h3>Next Up<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>USA:<\/strong> Friday, June 19 vs. Australia, 3 pm ET | Group D<\/li>\n<li><strong>PRY:<\/strong> Friday, June 19 vs. T\u00fcrkiye, 11 pm ET | Group D<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-toggle data-layout-name=\"grid_4-4-4\" data-bucket-name=\"main-content-after-middle-adv\">\n<div>\n<p>Get the latest from MLS: league news, must-see matches, kit drops, premium offers for the World\u2019s biggest event, and more!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlssoccer.com\/competitions\/fifa-world-cup\/news\/usa-send-world-cup-statement-with-opening-win-vs-paraguay\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Joan Center<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer The United States delivered a resounding\u00a04-1 victory over Paraguay to open their 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign on Friday evening, sending a statement in Group D&#8217;s opening match at Los Angeles Stadium. The tournament co-hosts soared to a 3-0 halftime lead behind Folarin Balogun&#8217;s brace and an early Paraguay own goal forced by combination [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":912700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2005,23148,644],"tags":[8893,5489],"class_list":["post-912699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","category-statement","category-world","tag-statement","tag-world"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912699\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/912700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}