On June 13, the first round match between the national teams of the USA and Paraguay in Group "D" of the 2026 FIFA World Cup took place. The match, held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, ended with a confident 4-1 victory for the Americans.
In the match officiated by Dutch referee Danny Makkelie, the scoring opened in the 7th minute. Paraguayan midfielder Damian Bobadilla put the ball into his own net, giving the USA the lead.
In the 29th minute, Folarin Balogun found the back of the opponent's net, but the goal was disallowed due to offside. Nevertheless, the attacker achieved his goal two minutes later. He scored his team's second goal in the 31st minute.
Balogun scored again in the 45th minute of the first half, completing a brace and further strengthening the USA's lead before the break.
In the middle of the second half, the Paraguayan national team managed to reduce the deficit through an accurate strike from Mauricio. However, in the final minutes of the match, the Americans put the final nail in the coffin. In the 90+8th minute of stoppage time, Giovanni Reyna scored, making the score 4:1.
Thus, the US national team began its World Cup campaign with a confident victory and, after the first round, became the sole leader of Group "D" with 3 points. Paraguay, on the other hand, started the tournament with a defeat and currently remains without points.
For reference, the national teams of Turkey and Switzerland are also in this group.
