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President Donald Trump congratulated the men's national team of the United States this Saturday after their impressive 4-1 victory over Paraguay in their debut in Group D of the FIFA World Cup 2026, posting his message on Truth Social at 10:50 a.m..
"Congratulations to Team USA for their great victory, 4-1, against a very good team from Paraguay. Keep it up! President DJT," wrote Trump on his platform.
The match took place on Friday at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, in front of 70,492 spectators, the largest attendance for the team in a World Cup since 1994.
The standout player of the match was forward Folarin Balogun, who scored a historic brace against Paraguay to become the first American to score two goals in a World Cup match since Bert Patenaude in 1930.
The match began with an own goal by Paraguayan Damián Bobadilla in the seventh minute, resulting from a collective play between Christian Pulisic and Weston McKennie.
Balogun extended the lead in the 31st minute with an assist from Pulisic, and in stoppage time of the first half, he scored his second goal with a left-footed shot into the upper corner of the Paraguayan goal, sending his team into halftime with a historic 3-0 lead.
It was the first time in World Cup history that the United States ended the first half of a match with such a lead, and also the first time the team scored four goals in a single World Cup match.
Paraguay scored in the 73rd minute through Mauricio, but Gio Reyna, who came on in the 82nd minute, sealed the final score at 4-1 during stoppage time with a stunning outside-of-the-foot goal.
Trump did not attend the stadium and sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the official representative of the administration, although the day before he had personally called the Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino and the team captain to encourage them before the debut, telling them that "the pressure is off" and to "have fun."
Pochettino expressed that he was "very, very, very proud" of the team's performance, although he emphasized that the victory is just the beginning and that the team must remain focused.
With this result, the United States currently leads Group D with three points and a goal difference of +3, and their next match will be on June 19 in Seattle against Australia.
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