The USMNT will play its first competitive match since whenever the last Gold Cup was to open the World Cup against Paraguay. In that time, the team has built an identity of sorts – at least one I will attempt to describe. It comes as some surprise that the team could be described as attack minded with it’s best players starting on the front line of teams playing in the Champions League backed up by a solid midfield flanked by technically gifted wingbacks playing in front of Chris Richards and… two
other center backs with what has now become the new American shaky goalkeeping standard.
Watching this team means living and dying with attack-minded players blasting forward at mach-5 with their hair on fire and hoping they are not punished too badly when inevitable mistakes put whoever is starting in goal in the line of fire. It is a significant departure from American teams in the past who were at their best staying compact on defense, fast on the counter, rock solid at goalkeeping, tall on set pieces, and opportunistic in front of goal.
It cannot be overstated that there are 13 defenders on this roster and one of them is a reliable starting center back. If this team is going to be successful in this World Cup, it will be by playing the kind of game it did against Senegal but having that result against teams like Germany. This may be a tall order, but international tournaments are about peaking at the right time and if Pulisic, Balogun, McKennie, Jedi, Sergino, and whoever between Gio Reyna, Malik Tillman, and Tim Weah fire on the right cylinders the team might celebrate America’s 250th birthday in exciting fashion.
But the defense… I won’t, we’ve all seen it. Let’s just say the backline has a lot of the growing the team will need to do on the way to peaking against a contender.
That team will try an light some early fireworks against a somewhat familiar foe as it takes on Paraguay. Again. The last times these teams met it was somewhat of a turning point for the USMNT and manager Mauricio Pochettino. In what ended up being the 4th of match of a five game unbeaten run, the USA beat Paraguay 2-1 to end 2025. Those matches turned the fortunes and perception of the team from one that looked lost just two months prior after a listless 2-0 loss to South Korea to a side that was starting to put it all together.
At this point, it’s fairly clear what to expect from Mauricio Pochettino who seems to have settled on a 3-4-2-1 formation. The team will try to push forward in possession and get the wingbacks deep into the Paraguay defensive third and either make plays out wide or give Pulisic and the other no. 10 space to attack through the center. Of course, this creates the risk that the backline will not get cover when the ball is lost in transition – a situation that is less than ideal for whoever is in goal. In short, the USA will likely find itself in situations where it needs to beat teams 4-2 rather than squeak out wins thanks to goals scored by center backs on set pieces.
As far as the opponent, Paraguay qualified out of South America and despite the 2-1 loss to the USA back in November, cannot be taken lightly. Just ask Argentina who they beat 2-1 in qualifying. Argentina. They have the makings of a team that can do well at a World Cup: defensive organization, grit, quick counter attacking and enough attacking threat to give the defense space to breathe. Paraguay does not have a Mane or a Sane to create problems for the American backline, but its attack has a generational talent in playmaker Julian “La Joya” Enciso. He will be backed by defensive midfield anchor Andres Cubas with Gustavo Gomez and Omar Alderete manning central defense.
Paraguay is capable of turning the game into one mired in physicality and may do just that to keep the USA from establishing a tempo while trying to breakdown the South Americans. The USMNT will need to keep their heads cool in the face of a physical La Albirroja team who has qualified for its first World Cup since 2010. The teams’ playing styles are so antithetical to one another that the team who scores first will have a massive advantage in dictating how the game transpires with either Paraguay falling behind and having to abandon its defensive approach to find an equalizer or the USA needing to breakdown a dug in Paraguay team looking to play spoiler to one of the hosts.
While the USA will come in as favorites, either of these teams is capable of winning this game. The Americans will need to keep putting things together the way they have been to get a result against a team that beat Argentina in qualifying. Argentina. Poch has built this team to be run with the Ferraris of the world, now it’s time to find out if he’s got a Ford GT40 or a used Pinto.
