Thursday, October 1, 2026
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The wait is finally over! Eight years after the USA, Mexico, and Canada won the bid to host the World Cup, the USMNT kicked off its 2026 World Cup campaign. The USA and Paraguay began Group D play on the second night of the tournament, and both teams were ready for a fight.
USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino finally has his team at full strength at the perfect time. In the few weeks leading up to the tournament, key players were out injured. Now the final co-host to kick off at the 2026 World Cup was ready to fire on all cylinders.
USA Starting XI vs Paraguay. Formation: 3-4-2-1
GK: Freese
CB: Ream CB: Richards CB: Freeman
LWB: A. Robinson CM: Adams CM: McKennie RWB: Dest
AM: Tillman AM: Pulisic
ST: Balogun
Paraguay had its best XI available as well, after an injury scare for striker Julio Enciso didn't keep him sidelined. This team came out in its traditional 4-4-2 formation, hoping to get an upset win over the hosts.
Paraguay Starting XI. Formation: 4-4-2
GK: Gill
LB: Alonso CB: Alderete CB: G. Gómez RB: Cáceres
LM: Almirón CM: Bobadilla CM: Cubas RM: D. Gómez
ST: Sanabria ST: Enciso
These two teams met last November in an international friendly, a game played at the Philadelphia Union's Subaru Park. The USMNT won 2-1 in a game that was overshadowed by a brawl at the end of the match. It wasn't very friendly, and now this competitive match on the biggest stage wouldn't be friendly either.
As the match started, the USA had some jitters. Overcooking easy passes, losing the ball in buildups, and giving away bad fouls. This led to an early Paraguay chance in the second minute, where Ream was burnt off the dribble, and Freese looked surprised by a bad-angle shot that luckily went over the bar.
After that gut check, the USMNT settled in a bit and did so by playing direct. Weston McKennie played a long ball to Folarin Balogun, who got a weak shot off that was easily saved, but this seemed to cue the USA in on how to attack Paraguay.
Just four minutes later, the hosts won the ball off of Paraguay and went up the middle of the field to get the opening goal. Tim Ream fed Chris Richards, who found an open Alex Freeman in their own end. As the ball moved to midfield, McKennie played Pulisic out on the left wing. The USA's talisman looked to make a return pass in the box, but it ricocheted off midfielder Damián Bobadilla and into Paraguay's net.
After the goal, it was clear Paraguay were flustered. They picked up a yellow card in the 10th minute as the USA's press frustrated them into mistakes in the middle of the field. The press is something Pochettino instills in his teams, and Pulisic has said to the media how this team will play that way to cause chaos.
There was more chaos before the 20th minute as the USA tried to score a second goal thanks to a header by defender Chris Richards. Richards collided with a Paraguay player and then needed medical attention for almost three minutes off the pitch. Luckily, the important center back was okay and continued in the match.
Just after the hydration break, the USA thought they had found their second goal again—this time through buildup play, where McKennie fed Pulisic, who assisted Balogun. But Pulisic was offside. However, Balogun would have a historic next 15 minutes.
Balogun scored in the 31st minute after a beautiful buildup yet again as Ream played Pulisic through, and then the winger found the striker for a first-time finish in the box. It was 2-0 USA. The United States would get a third goal just before the half, through Balogun again. This time, Tillman played an inch-perfect pass to the striker, who put Paraguay defenders on skates and then smashed a shot into the top left corner.
The USMNT was up 3-0 at halftime for the first time ever in the World Cup!
To some surprise, Pochettino took off Pulisic at the half, putting on feisty midfielder Sebastian Berhalter on. McKennie pushed up to attacking mid next to Tillman, Berhalter next to Adams in defensive mid. This change, along with the halftime adjustments made by Paraguay, shifted the momentum.
In the 48th minute, the USA had a bad turnover in the middle of the field, Gomez was in on goal, and forced Ream to deflect the shot out for a corner. Paraguay then applied pressure on the USA, creating chances. In the 50th minute, Ream fouled Paraguay to earn himself a yellow card.
Paraguay then almost scored on the ensuing free kick. However, the ref stopped play when the ball went out of bounds, and after a VAR check, it was determined that Miguel Almirón actually flopped and was the one to receive a yellow card instead of Ream. That killed all of Paraguay's momentum.
Over the next 10 minutes, Paraguay continued to try to chip away at the USA, but they failed to score. A concerning note in this portion of the game was that USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams picked up a yellow card. He had to toe the line for the rest of the match, and in the next game too. If he gets a Yellow Card in game two vs Australia, he will be out for the pivotal game three.
After the second-half hydration break, the USA made two more changes, bringing on Ricardo Pepi for Folarin Balogun up top and Tim Weah for Sergino Dest at right wingback. This seemed to help Paraguay as the game resumed, as they found their first goal of the match. As Almirón fed Enciso, who slipped Mauricio in on goal to make it 3-1 in the 73rd minute.
The goal was a wakeup call for the USMNT, who almost scored a fourth right after, but Tillman couldn't beat Gill to put the game away. The USA would find a few more chances through Tillman and Weah, but couldn't get that elusive fourth goal.
With about 10 minutes left, Gio Reyna came on for Tillman. His ability on the ball was trusted to grind out the win for the USMNT. Paraguay put up a fight. Pushing all sorts of numbers going forward. In the end, they couldn't find any spark, but Reyan could.
With what was just about the last kick of the match, the USMNT was passing the ball around Paraguay, eventually finding Gio Reyna. He had the gumption to run toward the Paraguayan box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot that curled into the far corner, ending the match 4-1.
The USA has won its first game at this World Cup in an all-but-dominating affair. Scoring three goals in a half is amazing, holding on when a strong team from South America is pushing the tempo is just as good, if not better. This USMNT side bent but didn't break and looked very dangerous for most of the game. Now they have a huge three points, and time to rest and recover.
Star players Christian Pulisic, Folarin Balogun, Tyler Adams, and Chris Richards were battered in this win. Pulisic was subbed off at halftime; speculation is that it may have been due to injury concerns. Balogun was subbed in the second half after being clattered. Adams and Richards are the spine of the team, and they played a full 90 minutes and luckily came out unscathed. However, their injury history is concerning if all the games are going to be this physical.
Time will tell if and how this USA side manages possible injury, but for now, Mauricio Pochettino's men are at the top of Group D. They play Australia in seven days' time in matchday two, where they could all but punch their ticket to the knockout rounds.
MORE: Philly Sport's Network's World Cup Coverage
