Folarin Balogun was the star of the show for the United States as his brace helped secure a 4-1 win over Paraguay in their first game of the 2026 World Cup.

Co-hosts United States were ahead after just seven minutes as Damian Bobadilla turned into his own net from Weston McKennie's cutback, though it was a well-earned goal, with Christian Pulisic bursting between two players in the build-up.

Mauricio Pochettino's side thought they were 2-0 up shortly before the half-hour mark, but Balogun's finish was ruled out for an offside against Pulisic moments earlier.

Balogun's disappointment did not last long, however, as he fired into the bottom-right corner from Pulisic's deflected pass in the 31st minute, after the latter was set free down the left wing by Antonee Robinson.

It was a relentless first half from the United States, who saw Chris Richards head narrowly wide of the right post from Malik Tillman's corner and the Bayer Leverkusen midfielder then shoot straight at Orlando Gill from close range, before eventually scoring a third.

Tillman played a brilliant ball in behind for Balogun, who held off a sliding challenge from Omar Alderete before picking out the top-left corner in first-half stoppage time.

In what was a quieter second half in comparison, Paraguay managed to pull a goal back in the 73rd minute through substitute Mauricio, whose first-time finish from Julio Enciso's lay-off got the better of Matt Freese.

Nevertheless, Giovanni Reyna wrapped up the win with a brilliant trivela finish eight minutes into stoppage time, with the United States overperforming their expected goals (xG) tally of 1.35, while restricting Paraguay to just 0.47.

USA's experience trumps Paraguay's youth

With an average age of 28 years and 104 days old, Paraguay named their youngest starting 11 in their opening match at a World Cup since 1998 (26 years, 347 days).

The United States, on the other hand, were led by Tim Ream, who became the oldest player to appear for his country in the competition (38 years and 250 days).

The co-hosts, who named a player from each of the five major European leagues in a World Cup starting 11 for the first time, wasted little time; their goal at 6:48 is the third fastest a host nation has scored in their first match at the World Cup after France (0:35) in 1938 and Germany (5:08) in 2006.

The United States also led by three goals at half-time for the first time in a World Cup match, with Pulisic and Balogun making key contributions.

Pulisic, who was substituted at half-time, completed the joint-most dribbles in the first half (three) and created the joint-most chances (two), while Balogun became the second American player to score multiple goals in a World Cup match after Bert Patenaude (three) versus Paraguay in 1930.