Seven minutes in, and Paraguay had already done the hardest part for them.
The United States beat Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on June 13, 2026, in their opening Group D match at the World Cup. Damian Bobadilla turned a Weston McKennie cross into his own net in the 7th minute, Folarin Balogun scored twice either side of halftime, and Giovanni Reyna sealed it deep into stoppage time, with Mauricio’s reply in the 73rd minute never threatening more than respectability for Paraguay.
The scoreline flattered nobody and undersold nothing.
United States 4, Paraguay 1. Bobadilla’s own goal arrived in the 7th minute, Balogun doubled it in the 31st, added a second just before the break in the 5th minute of stoppage time, and Reyna finished things off in the 8th minute of stoppage time at the other end. The United States finished with 1.42 expected goals to Paraguay’s 0.54, a gap that the final score actually understated for most of the night.
Paraguay never recovered from the start.
Bobadilla’s touch into his own net came from a McKennie delivery that asked an honest question of the visiting defense and got the wrong answer. Balogun then had a goal chalked off for offside before doing things properly in the 31st minute, finishing a flowing move after Christian Pulisic squared the ball across from the left.
The second Balogun goal was the moment that turned a good half into a statement.
Malik Tillman, arguably the busiest man on the pitch, slipped Balogun clean through in first-half stoppage time. Balogun still had work to do, easing past two defenders before switching the ball onto his left foot and lifting it into the top corner, giving goalkeeper Orlando Gil no chance whatsoever.
That finish put real distance between the sides, and Paraguay spent the rest of the half looking for somewhere to hide.
Even so, Mauricio gave the visitors a flicker of hope in the 73rd minute. Gil’s long free kick was not dealt with cleanly by the United States defense, Miguel Almiron controlled the loose ball, and Julio Enciso squared it for Mauricio to finish from close range, just 27 minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Make no mistake, that goal changed nothing about who controlled the contest.
The United States pushed straight back. Alex Freeman, quiet for most of the night, combined with Timothy Weah on the right in the 90th minute of stoppage time and found Reyna unmarked inside the box. Reyna needed one touch and the outside of his right boot to send the ball past Gil and settle any remaining doubt at 4-1.
Tyler Adams picked up a yellow card in the 59th minute, and Paraguay collected four bookings of their own across Almiron, Diego Gomez, Alex Arce, and Junior Alonso as frustration crept in during the closing stages.
Balogun arrived in Los Angeles as a question mark for the U.S. attack. He left it as the answer.