US Opens Home World Cup With Historic 4-1 Win Against Paraguay

Los Angeles: Folarin Balogun scored twice as the United States opened its first home World Cup in 32 years with a historic 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday night — their biggest winning margin in tournament history.

Christian Pulisic was the creative force in a dominant first half, setting up an early own-goal before Balogun struck in the 31st minute and again in first-half injury time to give the US a 3-0 lead at the break — their largest halftime advantage ever in a World Cup match. Gio Reyna added a fourth deep into second-half stoppage time, giving the Americans four World Cup goals in a single game for the first time.

The result marked a dramatic transformation for a team that managed just three goals across four matches at the Qatar World Cup four years ago and had never previously scored more than three in any World Cup game. Playing under new coach Mauricio Pochettino's more expansive system, the US enthralled a passionate, star-studded crowd of 70,492 at Inglewood. Mauricio pulled one back for Paraguay in the second half, but La Albirroja — appearing in their first World Cup in 16 years — never recovered from the early onslaught.

Balogun, a 24-year-old New York-born, London-raised Monaco striker, delivered the first multigoal World Cup performance by a US player since 1930.