Updated June 12, 2026 at 10:40 PM EDT
Editor's Update: An own goal by Paraguay puts the U.S. ahead 1-0! On the attack, forward Christian Pulisic split a pair of defenders and got the ball to midfielder Weston McKennie, whose lateral pass across the goal deflected off the foot of Paraguayan defender Damian Bobadilla and into the goal in the 7th minute.
The U.S. makes it 2-0 in the 31st minute! From the back left side, winger Antonee Robinson found Pulisic breaking up in the side, who sent it across to striker Folarin Balogun for the finish.
Balogun knocks in another to make it 3-0! The Monaco striker shed two defenders to find his window, and he didn't miss: a perfectly-placed strike to the upper left corner was impossible for Orlando Gill, the beleaguered Paraguayan goalkeeper, to save.
At the halftime whistle, the Paraguayan team gathered in the center circle and talked amongst themselves before heading into the locker room.
The U.S. made one substitution at the half. A bit of a surprise: midfielder Sebastian Berhalter replaced Pulisic.
Paraguay finally scores to make it 3-1! A giveaway by the U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams left Paraguay's star attacker Julio Enciso with the ball, who found his teammate Mauricio for the finish in the 73rd minute.
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INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The FIFA World Cup has finally arrived once again on American soil.
On Friday night in Southern California, the world's largest sporting event returned to the U.S. for the first time in more than three decades when the U.S. men's national soccer team kicks off its first group-stage match against Paraguay.
This 2026 World Cup has been circled on the calendar of U.S. Soccer for nearly a decade — the long-awaited chance to finally rewrite a legacy of inferiority in international soccer.
The heavyweight talent and strong soccer tradition of European and South American teams have long proven elusive for the U.S. to match, despite decades of investment in the sport. The furthest the U.S. team has finished in a modern World Cup was a run to the quarterfinals in 2002; since then, the U.S. has managed just three total wins across all the World Cups.
Yet the chance to host the tournament at home has coincided with the development of perhaps the most talented generation of players that American soccer has ever produced.
For the first time in the national team's history, its major players all have key roles on teams in Europe's top-flight professional leagues. Midfielder Tyler Adams and defenders Chris Richards and Antonee Robinson are regular contributors to their English Premier League teams, while Weston McKennie is a favorite at Italian club Juventus, and Christian Pulisic, the one-time boy wonder of Team USA, is now, at 27, a bona fide star for AC Milan.
"This is for me the biggest opportunity to grow the game, to inspire people, to show that American players are at the level of the rest of the world," Adams said Thursday.
Paraguay is already hobbled
The team's first challenge is Friday's game against Paraguay, currently No. 40 in FIFA's international rankings. The two teams faced off in an international friendly last November, which the U.S. won 2-1 after a scuffle between players broke out during stoppage time.
"We know that they're gonna be super, super aggressive, so we're going to have to match that. We saw that the last time we played them," said U.S. forward Tim Weah.
Before the game there were questions for Paraguay around its biggest talent, the 22-year-old midfielder Julio Enciso, who was stretchered off the field in the first half of his team's final warm-up match last week.
But Enciso will start the game, as will the U.S. defender Richards, the 25-year-old Crystal Palace talent who hurt his ankle in a game last month and had sat out since.
Against Paraguay, the U.S. will start forwards Pulisic and Folarin Balogun; midfielders Adams, McKennie and Malik Tillman; defenders Robinson, Richards, Sergiño Dest, Alex Freeman and Tim Ream; and goalkeeper Matt Freese.
After Friday's match, the U.S. will play Australia next week, then wrap up the group stage with a June 25 game against Turkey.
The expansion of the tournament to 48 teams means it will be easier than ever to emerge from the group stage. A win in Friday's game, plus either a second win against Australia or Turkey or a draw against both teams, would likely be enough for the U.S. to advance to the knockout round — though the U.S. could earn a more advantageous path if it finishes the group stage in first place.
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