US Men's National Team Thrashes Paraguay 4-1 in First Home World Cup Match in 32 Years

Folarin Balogun scored twice as the US opened their first home World Cup in 32 years with their biggest win in the tournament, a dynamic 4-1 victory over Paraguay on Friday.

Christian Pulisic had an assist in a stellar first-half playmaking performance for the Americans, who enthralled their fans with an aggressive attack while moving into a 3-0 half-time lead – the team’s largest in any World Cup game.

Gio Reyna scored another goal in the dying moments of second-half injury time, giving the Americans four goals in a World Cup match for the first time.

The US scored only three goals combined in its four matches at the Qatar World Cup four years ago, and they had never scored more than three in a World Cup match.

But the Americans were a team transformed while playing in new coach Mauricio Pochettino’s more creative system in front of a passionate, star-studded Los Angeles crowd of 70,492.

Mauricio scored in the second half for Paraguay, but they fell too far behind early in their first World Cup match in 16 years.