United States vs Paraguay, 2026 FIFA World Cup, Group Stage

· FIFA World Cup

United States

7': Damián Bobadilla (OG)
31': Folarin Balogun
45'+5': Folarin Balogun
90'+8': Giovanni Reyna

FT
4 - 1

Paraguay

73': Maurício

United States beats Paraguay in opener on Balogun double

USMNT celeb vs Paraguay_2606012 [1024x576]

The United States cruised past Paraguay to open its home World Cup campaign with a statement victory in front of a galaxy of Los Angeles stars.

Match Timeline

0': Lineups are announced and players are warming up.
0': First Half begins.
1': Julio Enciso (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
1': Foul by Tyler Adams (USA).
2': Attempt missed. Diego Gómez (Paraguay) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is just a bit too high. Assisted by Antonio Sanabria.
3': Attempt saved. Folarin Balogun (USA) right footed shot from the right side of the box is saved in the centre of the goal by Orlando Gill (Paraguay). Assisted by Weston McKennie with a headed pass.
3': Offside, USA. Folarin Balogun is caught offside.
7': Own Goal by Damián Bobadilla, Paraguay. USA 1, Paraguay 0.
9': Foul by Gustavo Gómez (Paraguay).
9': Folarin Balogun (USA) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
9': Foul by Juan José Cáceres (Paraguay).
9': Christian Pulisic (USA) wins a free kick on the left wing.
10': Juan José Cáceres (Paraguay) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
12': Foul by Andrés Cubas (Paraguay).
12': Malik Tillman (USA) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
13': Delay in match (USA).
13': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
14': Attempt missed. Julio Enciso (Paraguay) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left. Assisted by Miguel Almirón with a headed pass.
16': Corner, USA. Conceded by Damián Bobadilla.
17': Omar Alderete (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
17': Foul by Chris Richards (USA).
17': Delay in match because of an injury Omar Alderete (Paraguay).
17': Delay in match because of an injury Chris Richards (USA).
19': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
20': Foul by Juan José Cáceres (Paraguay).
20': Folarin Balogun (USA) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
24': Delay in match for a drinks break.
27': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
28': Offside, USA. Folarin Balogun is caught offside.
31': Goal! USA 2, Paraguay 0. Folarin Balogun (USA) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Christian Pulisic.
35': Attempt missed. Folarin Balogun (USA) header from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Christian Pulisic with a cross.
37': Attempt blocked. Malik Tillman (USA) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
37': Corner, USA. Conceded by Andrés Cubas.
37': Attempt missed. Chris Richards (USA) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by Malik Tillman with a cross following a corner.
38': Foul by Antonio Sanabria (Paraguay).
38': Chris Richards (USA) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
40': Foul by Andrés Cubas (Paraguay).
40': Folarin Balogun (USA) wins a free kick on the right wing.
42': Juan José Cáceres (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
42': Foul by Christian Pulisic (USA).
43': Attempt saved. Malik Tillman (USA) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the centre of the goal by Orlando Gill (Paraguay).
45': Antonio Sanabria (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
45': Foul by Chris Richards (USA).
45': Fourth official has announced 5 minutes of added time.
45'+2': Miguel Almirón (Paraguay) wins a free kick on the left wing.
45'+2': Foul by Malik Tillman (USA).
45'+5': Goal! USA 3, Paraguay 0. Folarin Balogun (USA) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Malik Tillman.
45'+6': First Half ends, USA 3, Paraguay 0.
45': Substitution, Paraguay. Mauricio replaces Damián Bobadilla.
45': Second Half begins USA 3, Paraguay 0.
45': Substitution, USA. Sebastian Berhalter replaces Christian Pulisic.
47': Attempt blocked. Folarin Balogun (USA) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Antonee Robinson.
48': Attempt blocked. Miguel Almirón (Paraguay) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
48': Foul by Gustavo Gómez (Paraguay).
48': Folarin Balogun (USA) wins a free kick on the left wing.
49': Attempt blocked. Diego Gómez (Paraguay) right footed shot from the right side of the box is blocked.
49': Corner, Paraguay. Conceded by Tim Ream.
50': Attempt blocked. Diego Gómez (Paraguay) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Miguel Almirón.
50': Miguel Almirón (Paraguay) has gone down, but the referee deems it simulation.
51': Delay in match (USA). VAR checking.
52': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
52': VAR Decision: Card Changed.
53': Miguel Almirón (Paraguay) is shown the yellow card.
56': Foul by Andrés Cubas (Paraguay).
56': Tyler Adams (USA) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
57': Attempt blocked. Malik Tillman (USA) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Weston McKennie.
57': Julio Enciso (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
57': Foul by Chris Richards (USA).
59': Corner, USA. Conceded by Júnior Alonso.
59': Mauricio (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
59': Foul by Tyler Adams (USA).
59': Tyler Adams (USA) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
60': Julio Enciso (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
60': Foul by Alex Freeman (USA).
61': Attempt missed. Malik Tillman (USA) right footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right.
62': Substitution, Paraguay. Álex Arce replaces Antonio Sanabria.
65': Attempt blocked. Julio Enciso (Paraguay) right footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Júnior Alonso.
65': Attempt missed. Diego Gómez (Paraguay) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Álex Arce.
68': Delay in match for a drinks break.
71': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
71': Attempt blocked. Miguel Almirón (Paraguay) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Omar Alderete with a headed pass.
71': Foul by Juan José Cáceres (Paraguay).
71': Malik Tillman (USA) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
71': Delay in match because of an injury Folarin Balogun (USA).
72': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
72': Substitution, USA. Timothy Weah replaces Sergiño Dest.
72': Substitution, USA. Ricardo Pepi replaces Folarin Balogun.
73': Juan José Cáceres (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
73': Foul by Antonee Robinson (USA).
73': Goal! USA 3, Paraguay 1. Mauricio (Paraguay) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Julio Enciso following a set piece situation.
75': Attempt saved. Malik Tillman (USA) right footed shot from the centre of the box is saved in the bottom right corner by Orlando Gill (Paraguay). Assisted by Ricardo Pepi.
77': Foul by Andrés Cubas (Paraguay).
77': Malik Tillman (USA) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
77': Attempt missed. Timothy Weah (USA) right footed shot from the right side of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Malik Tillman.
79': Foul by Diego Gómez (Paraguay).
79': Malik Tillman (USA) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
79': Diego Gómez (Paraguay) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
79': Substitution, Paraguay. Ramón Sosa replaces Miguel Almirón.
79': Substitution, Paraguay. Gustavo Velázquez replaces Juan José Cáceres.
80': Substitution, Paraguay. Alejandro Romero replaces Diego Gómez.
82': Substitution, USA. Giovanni Reyna replaces Malik Tillman.
83': Julio Enciso (Paraguay) wins a free kick on the left wing.
83': Foul by Timothy Weah (USA).
83': Offside, Paraguay. Gustavo Gómez is caught offside.
84': Alejandro Romero (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
84': Foul by Giovanni Reyna (USA).
86': Ramón Sosa (Paraguay) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
86': Foul by Ricardo Pepi (USA).
86': Foul by Omar Alderete (Paraguay).
86': Tyler Adams (USA) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
88': Foul by Álex Arce (Paraguay).
88': Giovanni Reyna (USA) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
88': Álex Arce (Paraguay) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
89': Attempt missed. Ricardo Pepi (USA) left footed shot from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Weston McKennie.
89': Júnior Alonso (Paraguay) wins a free kick on the left wing.
89': Foul by Timothy Weah (USA).
90': Attempt missed. Sebastian Berhalter (USA) right footed shot from more than 35 yards misses to the right following a fast break.
90'+1': Foul by Andrés Cubas (Paraguay).
90'+1': Giovanni Reyna (USA) wins a free kick on the left wing.
90'+1': Fourth official has announced 7 minutes of added time.
90'+3': Foul by Júnior Alonso (Paraguay).
90'+3': Tyler Adams (USA) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
90'+3': Júnior Alonso (Paraguay) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
90'+3': Delay in match because of an injury Andrés Cubas (Paraguay).
90'+4': Delay over. They are ready to continue.
90'+4': Foul by Alejandro Romero (Paraguay).
90'+4': Sebastian Berhalter (USA) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
90'+7': Attempt blocked. Timothy Weah (USA) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Tyler Adams.
90'+8': Goal! USA 4, Paraguay 1. Giovanni Reyna (USA) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Alex Freeman.
90'+9': Second Half ends, USA 4, Paraguay 1.
0': Match ends, USA 4, Paraguay 1.

Statistics

PAR		USA
17	Fouls	13
5	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
1	Offsides	2
1	Corner Kicks	3
3	Saves	1
34.7	Possession	65.3
9	SHOTS	16
1	ON GOAL	6
0.1	On Target %	0.4
0	Penalty Goals	0
0	Penalty Kicks Taken	0
232	Accurate Passes	509
319	Passes	598
0.7	Pass Completion %	0.9
1	Accurate Crosses	3
5	Crosses	19
0.0	Cross %	0.2
59	Long Balls	48
20	Accurate Long Balls	26
0.3	Long Balls %	0.5
5	Blocked Shots	4
16	Effective Tackles	7
21	Tackles	9
0.8	Tackle %	0.8
10	Interceptions	9
33	Effective Clearances	15
33	Clearances	15

Game Information

Competition: FIFA World Cup

Venue: SoFi Stadium
Location: Inglewood, California, USA
Attendance: 70,492

FIFA World Cup Table

#	TEAM	GP	GD	PTS
1	United States	3	+4	6
2	Australia	3	0	4
3	Paraguay	3	-2	4
4	Türkiye	3	-2	3

Full Table

Line-Ups

United States (4-2-3-1)

No.	Name
24	Matt Freese (GK)
13	Tim Ream
3	Chris Richards
5	Antonee Robinson
16	Alex Freeman
8	Weston McKennie
17	Malik Tillman
4	Tyler Adams
20	Folarin Balogun
10	Christian Pulisic
2	Sergiño Dest

United States Substitutes:

Alejandro Zendejas, Sebastian Berhalter, Ricardo Pepi, Cristian Roldan, Mark McKenzie, Joe Scally, Max Arfsten, Matt Turner, Haji Wright, Chris Brady, Brenden Aaronson, Giovanni Reyna, Timothy Weah, Miles Robinson, Auston Trusty.

Paraguay (4-4-2)

No.	Name
12	Orlando Gill (GK)
3	Omar Alderete
15	Gustavo Gómez
6	Júnior Alonso
4	Juan Cáceres
16	Damián Bobadilla
14	Andrés Cubas
10	Miguel Almirón
8	Diego Gómez
19	Julio Enciso
9	Antonio Sanabria

Paraguay Substitutes:

Alex Arce, José Canale, Gabriel Ávalos, Alexandro Maidana, Gustavo Caballero, Alejandro Romero Gamarra, Braian Ojeda, Gastón Olveira, Gatito Fernández, Isidro Pitta, Fabián Balbuena, Matías Galarza, Ramón Sosa, Maurício, Gustavo Velázquez.

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