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Folarin Balogun scored a hat trick and the United States crushed Paraguay 4-1 in their debut at the , this Friday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles, in a Group D match that was never in question.
The match started in favor of the home team from the seventh minute, when Damián Bobadilla redirected the ball into his own goal to open the scoring. The pressure from the U.S. team was immediate and relentless from the kickoff, offering no relief to a Paraguay side that arrived at the tournament with hopes of returning to the World Cup stage.
In the 28th minute, VAR disallowed a goal by Balogun for offside, but three minutes later the AS Monaco forward didn’t miss and scored to make it 2-0 with a clean strike. The disallowed goal only delayed the inevitable: Balogun was having an inspired night.
Before the break, the attacker born in Brooklyn made his presence felt again in the 45th minute, sealing the first half with a score of 3-0. The first half was a monologue from the United States in Group D, who went into the locker room with a comfortable lead and the match practically decided. Christian Pulisic, who was involved in the play leading to the own goal, was substituted at halftime along with Bobadilla, who left the field after the error that opened the scoring.
In the second half, Balogun completed his hat-trick in the 50th minute to make it 4-0, before being substituted in the 72nd minute. The goal confirmed an outstanding performance by the forward, who, in just 50 minutes on the pitch at SoFi Stadium, became the indisputable star of the match. Paraguay reduced the deficit in the 73rd minute thanks to Maurício Magalhães Prado, but the outcome was already conclusive. Giovanni Reyna capped off the score in the 98th minute with the final goal.
The statistics reflected the absolute dominance of the U.S. national team: 63% possession compared to Paraguay's 37%, 14 shots against nine, and five shots on target to just one from the opponent. In corners, the difference was also clear: three to one. The United States committed 13 fouls compared to Paraguay's 16, illustrating the physical nature that the Guarani team attempted to impose without success.
Paraguay amassed four yellow cards — Cáceres in the 10th minute, Almirón in the 53rd, Diego Gómez in the 79th, Alex Arce in the 88th, and Junior Alonso in the 90th — while the United States received only one, for Tyler Adams in the 59th minute. Tim Ream also had a moment with the VAR in the 52nd minute, when an update to his card was confirmed.
With this victory, the United States leads Group D, which also includes Australia and Turkey. Paraguay, which returned to the World Cup after 16 years of absence since South Africa 2010, starts with a loss and will need to bounce back in its upcoming matches to stay alive in the tournament. In the most recent encounter between both teams, the United States had already defeated Paraguay 2-1 in a friendly match in November 2025, indicating that the host's superiority was no surprise.
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