On a warm June night in Los Angeles, the USMNT took the field for the opening match of the World Cup. As the crowd started a deafening U-S-A chant the team delivered a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay. The attack was the star of the show with an early own-goal leading to a Folarin Balogun brace with Gio Reyna scoring a beauty to finish the match off. When it was all said and done, the USA was half way to equaling the most ever wins in a World Cup in the post 1990 era.
Hey look, Chris Richards is healthy.
Someone’s starting in goal, Tim Ream is playing in his 68th World Cup. Poch lined the team up in a 4-2-3-1 with Sergino Dest at right wing and Weston McKennie everywhere.
IT WASN’T 1776-0 BUT THESE ARE GIFS OF A LOT OF USMNT GOALS
The Americans had a shaky start as Paraguay almost found a goal in the second minute but responded with a chance of their own shortly after. In the 7th minute the USA found a goal when Christian Pulisic tried to run past everyone in the Paraguay 18 yard box, passing to McKennie who tipped into the path of Damian Bobadilla who had the misfortune of directing the ball into his own goal.
Make no mistake, this was the result of the USA winning possession in the Paraguay half and capitalizing on the following chaos.
The hydration break came amidst the USA continuing to press for a second goal. In the 28th minute it looked like they found the net but Folarin Balogun was called offside – but scored two minutes later.
And a third goal in the last second before the half.
The USA couldn’t have asked for a better start but did go to the bench and bring in Sebastian Berhalter for Christian Pulisic for an apparent injury. Paraguay wasn’t done though and pushed to get back into the game. In the 52nd minute Tim Ream fouled Miguel Almiron and after a VAR review the center back was given a yellow.
As the half wore on, the USA kept most of the possession but it would be Paraguay who would strike next. Midfielder Maurício who came in at the half for Bobadilla and clawed one back for his teammate in the 73rd minute. Chris Richards would want that one back, but Paraguay still had a lot to do in order to get back into the game.
Paraguay and the USA traded chances until GIO REYNA scored to make it 4-1 on a beautiful sidefooted goal. In a single moment, Reyna began writing a new story for himself with the national team.
That goal would make history as the team became the first in USMNT history to score four goals in a World Cup match. It also surpassed the number of goals the team scored in four games in the 2022 tournament.
All together, it was a fantastic result for the USA. The 3-1 scoreline was well deserved with the attack firing throughout the game. Of course, the Pulisic substitution hung over the second half, but Fox Sports provided an update that sounded like positive news.
