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I’m so, so proud of the players and the staff. The most important thing is the performance and the feeling but we know it’s only the start and it’s nothing. Now we need to be intelligent and keep going in that direction. But we are so happy because the first game is always so difficult. There are so many expectations when you host the World Cup and the guys managed the expectations in massive way. The first 45 minutes were amazing. It’s difficult to play like this. So happy and so proud.
Christian [Pulisic] received a kick on his calf at the end of the first half and he began to feel tight. He could hardly walk so we don’t want to take any risks. We hope it’s not a big issue and he’s ready for the next game.
That’s what we’ve been waiting for [the backing of a raucous crowd]. When you talk about America, it’s that passion. Amazing. Now they realise that soccer in America is massive. It’s big. Be careful other sports!
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A comprehensive victory that should make America sit up and notice. The best performance of the tournament so far and the first time they have ever scored four in a World Cup match. They flew out of the traps in the first half and finished with similar intensity.
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US 4 Paraguay 1 (Reyna) What a finish with the outside of his right foot from the left of the box, swerving it past the leaden-legged Gill and bending it back in to creep inside the left post. Set up by Freeman’s tenacity on the right. They have a team of Duracell bunnies.
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Late corner for the US that they take short. Weah has a shot from 25 yards that he smacks straight into Cubas.
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More US pressure with Antonee Robinson’s tenacity earning him a run to the byline. He crosses through the box and though Weah shapes to shoot, the ball pinballs past him and Alonso gratefully smashes it away.
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Gill races out of his area to stop a ball chipped over the top reaching Pepi. He beats the striker to it but scuffs his clearance straight to Berhalter who is encouraged by the crowd to chips the keeper from 30 yards but slices it embarrassingly.
Seven minutes of stoppage time have been signalled.
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The United States take the free-kick quickly and knock it up to the tireless McKennie beavering down the left. He raises his eyes and sees Pepi check his run to make some space for himself at the near post and puts it on a plate for him. But the striker leans back and hoists his shot into orbit.
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Arce is booked for a lunge at the ball which missed and ended with him planting his studs on to Reyna’s metatarsals.
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Adams again squeals and rolls around like a stuck pig when clipped. Well, it is Hollywood, I suppose.
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Weah fires a rising shot that Gill claws over the bar but the ref awards a goal-kick. Wasn’t VAR supposed to check these things?
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Pepi, like McKennie before him, works his way into a great shooting position and lays it off to Tillman to shoot straight at Gill. Danny Murphy says in disgust; “He’s a striker who’s scored 19 goals for PSV last season and instead of shooting he gives it to a midfielder.”
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US 3 Paraguay 1 (Mauricio) Goalkeeper takes the free-kick from outside his area long. Enciso beats Richards in the air to flick it to Almiron who gives it back to Enciso and he moves it on to his left to the Brazil-born substitute to spear into the bottom right corner across Freese with a left-foot diagonal shot.
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Pulisic was handing out water bottles to his team-mates and seemed fine.
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Tillmna has another chance to shoot when the ball breaks to him via Balogun’s miscontrol but a decent sliding tackle means he boots the defender instead.
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Adams is booked for fouling Mauricio momenst after Tillman fluffed a shot.
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Balogun goes down in the box but he made a meal of it and the ref rightly tells him to get up. Moments later Adams hams up a foul but he gets away with it.
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Tillman makes a hash of his decision 20 yards out when a wayward clearance from Gill is shanked at him. He could have had a shot and surprised Gill with an early strike but tried to dink it through to Dest instead and gives Gomez the chance to clear.
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From the corner Ream is booked for what seemed to be a trip on Almiron but then, by virtue of VAR, the ref reverses his decision, goes to the screen and books Almiron instead for ‘clear simulation’. He got out both cards with the red at the front at first, giving Almiron a scare.
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Paraguay corner after a shot from Gomez, bending and dipping, is deflected wide. The chance came from Freeman’s sloppiness in possession and Pochettino was straight on to his feet to berate him.
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The discrepancy in xG to G is down to Paraguay’s poor defending:
The United States were in sync in the attack to the tune of completing 76.5% (78/102) of their passes ending in the final third for the best first-half mark so far in the tournament. No other team has completed more than 50 such passes. pic.twitter.com/xIMQfes1TW
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) June 13, 2026
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A statement performance from the hosts. Tactically they have been superb and have defenestrated and all but debagged the Paraguay midfield and defence. It’s Bielsa-ball at its purest. So much running on and off the ball.
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US 3 Paraguay 0 (Balogun) Looks like the simplest of goals. A 30-yard pass down the inside left from Tillman. Balogun strides on to it, diddles Alderete and leaves him one his backside by chopping inside through the attempted tackle, steps over the ball and exploits the gap with the backpedalling Gomez to wrap his left instep round the ball and arrow it into the top left corner.
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McKennie is a player transformed this past couple of years and again works his way into a position in the box by sheer road-runner-style pace and persistence. But he lacks the confidence to shoot too often and lays off a chance looking for Balogun, allowing the defender back in.
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The first of five minutes of stoppage time ends with Enciso earning a free-kick for a shove in the back. Almiron takes and floats it straight down Freese’s throat.
Tom Cruise and David Beckham, alongside each other in the VIP suites, have had quite the day. Just a few hours earlier Cruise was delivering a speech here in LA to mark his friend’s honouring with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While I must have missed Beckham’s timeless contributions on the silver screen, the citation emphasises how he has been instrumental in bridging the worlds of sport and pop culture.
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McKennie and Tillman bring the ball forward down the right with the help of Dest. McKennie leaves Alonso facing the wring way when he sneaks a pass in to Tillman whose angled shot from about 10 yards is struck into the keeper’s chest as he spread himself.
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Enciso has been at the heart of all Paraguay’s good moves and now feints and shimmes down the inside left before slamming a shot into a defender’s shins.
Poor Juan Jose Caceres isn’t going to be out there too much longer if Pulisic keeps doing this to him. The US winger has got the beating of him every time.
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Pulisic has poor Caceres on toast. He needs help. He may need counselling too.
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Pochettino has the most incredible outfit on. He looks like Steve Buscemi’s character in the Sopranos, Tony Blundetto.
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From Tillman’s ensuing corner Richards flashes a header wide of the right post from 16 yards.
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This has the makings of a rout unless Paraguay get a grip on Pulisic. The winger roasts Caceres again. Gomez isn’t helping him and Pulisic finds the field opening up. He stands up a cross that Paraguay scramble away.
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US 2 Paraguay 0 (Balogun) Thwarted by a flag moments earlier but not this time. Robinson bends a long pass up the left, leaving Almiron stranded. Pulisic takes the ball in his stride and centres along the floor to Balogun who sweeps home his shot from about 16 yards.
Paraguay are all over of the place and the US look like scoring every time they attack. Pulisic has been very lively and gets in down the left again before pulling the ball back for Balogun to finish coolly, a few minutes after having a goal disallowed. Dream start for the co-hosts. Balogun was mobbed by pretty much the entire US subs bench. Chants of “USA” reverberating.
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Great near-post finish by Balogun but there were two offside infringements in the build-up, first by Pulisic on the left as he teed up Adams and McKennie to work it through the middle to Balogun, and then from Balogun himself when played through the left of the box by Adams.
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First water break comes with the US firmly in the ascendancy.
Star Wars creator George Lucas has got his feet up and is munching on a burger. Looks as happy as Larry.
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The United States are making hay down both wings, particularly the left. Tillman and McKennie join the overload of Caceres with Pulisic but McKennie’s wayeard touch stymies the attack.
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Both centre-backs have been passed fit to continue but have to go off for a minute under the new regulations.
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Richards and Alderete compete for the corner and both end up on the deck clutching their heads. The ref gives the foul Paraguay’s way and both require treatment.
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Pochettino’s pragmatism top the fore as they mix up their styles in attack, looking for intricacy one moment, all blood and thunder the next. Big miss by Dest on the right of the box, a chance wrecked by a heavy touch controlling Balogun’s clever pass. He still gets the cross off and earns a corner.
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Paraguay have been under the cosh but escape to work the ball to Enciso in the inside-right channel. He shoots, a bit of a daisycutter that dribbles wide via a defelction the ref didn’t see.
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US 1 Paraguay 0 (Bobadilla og) McKennie goes crossfield on a run, using the pace he didn’t seem to have during his spell at Leeds and then a crafty drag back gives him the space to work the ball to Pulisic on the left. The winger embarks on a direct run, facing up a backpedalling Caceres before squaring it to McKennie who should have shot but instead tried to flick it towards Balogun. In order to stop it reaching the former Arsenal centre-forward Bobadilla stuck his foot in and diverted it past his keeper.
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Positive start from both sides, especially in their willingness to vary their passing range, going long as wells as short and snapping into tackles.
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Another tasty long ball, this time by the US and up the right by Dest. McKennie flicks it on to Balogun who scuffs a shot straight at Gill.
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Paraguay break with a fine long pass up the inside-left that Sanabria takes it in his stride, tacks a bit wide and then squares. The US hustle it out of the box and Richards blocks Enciso’s follow-up effort.
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The hosts kick off to a tumultuous reception, playing from left to right. The US are in their red and white wavy hoops, Paraguay in blue. The fans are making a racket as the ball goes out for a Paraguay throw 10 yards up from their corner flag on the right.
It’s looking pretty full at the SoFi now.
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And now it’s time for the national anthems, starting with Paraguay.
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Kicking off with Lisa. Me neither:
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But Danny Murphy, on the ground for the BBC, says that is down to queueing issues and security protocols rather than poor ticket sales.
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Since the October 2025 international break, Pochettino has switched to a 3-4-3 formation (a system he used on occasion at Spurs despite generally favouring 4-2-3-1). He has also dialled down the high pressing for which he was revered, sitting a little deeper to protect a lack of pace in defence. The United States have lacked flair for decades, and much will depend on Pulisic being fit enough to unlock defences.
This is from our team-by-team guide which you can read here.
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US Freese; Freeman, Richards, Ream; Antonee Robinson, Tillman, Adams, Dest; McKennie, Pulisic; Balogun.
Substitutes Turner, Brady, Trusty, Reyna, Pepi, Aaronson, Miles Robinson, Berhalter, Roldan, Arfsten, Wright, Weah, McKenzie, Scally, Zendejas.
Paraguay Gill; Caceres, Gustavo Gomez, Alderete, Alonso; Diego Gomez, Cubas, Bobadilla; Almiron, Sanabria, Enciso.
Substitutes Fernandez, Olveira, Velazquez, Balbuena, Sosa, Mauricio, Canale, Romero, Arce, Ojeda, Avalos, Galarza, Caballero, Pitta, Maidana.
Referee Danny Makkelie (Holland)
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Former US goalkeeper Tony Meola has been speaking to reporters ahead of the game and believes Mauricio Pochettino’s side should be targeting the quarter-finals. Meola was part of the squad that reached the last eight at the 2002 finals and hopes the current squad can go at least that far. “What I would like to do is come out of this World Cup and say this is the golden generation,” he said. “The barometer since 2002 has been the quarter finals so that’s somewhere we need to be competing at. Why shouldn’t we use it as a measuring stick? Why should we shy away? We’ve got to push the envelope a bit.”
Meola, who won 100 caps for USMNT, doubts Pochettino will stay on beyond the tournament. “When Mauricio got hired if he has a great World Cup what’s reason to stay and if he has a terrible World Cup we’re all going to kick him out anyway,” Meola joked.
Pochettino was linked with the AC Milan post last month but Meola believes the Argentine could not be more committed to delivering success over the next six weeks. “Maybe the timing some could say it’s distracting a bit but I’ve seen his interviews and he looks pretty focused to me.”
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Paraguay managed more than 50 per cent possession in just three of their 18 World Cup qualifiers, preferring to soak up pressure and break at pace, with the ever-willing Miguel Almirón an outlet. Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay were beaten by Paraguay in Asunción, with the latter victory a blueprint: Uruguay had 71 per cent of the ball but were restricted to just five shots and 0.2 expected goals. Do not expect a goalfest when watching Alderete and Co.
This is from our team-by-team guide which you can read here.
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Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the third host nation’s first game of the tournament and hence another opening ceremony, this one “headlined” by Katy Perry. After the pomp and frankly unnecessary faff – one is too many, never mind three – the US men’s national team take on Paraguay in, interestingly, the only group fixture of this tournament that is the same as one at the first World Cup back in 1930. The US won that one 3-0 en route to the semi-finals and have won the last three meetings, two friendlies, the second of them last year, and also in the Copa América in 2016.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side have struggled since the turn of the year, losing to Belgium and Portugal before fighting back to beat Senegal 3-2 on May 31. They followed that with a 2-1 defeat by Germany in Chicago when Fulham’s Antonee Robinson scored a worldie and while they should have enough to get out of a group whose other two members are Australia and Turkey, it’s hard to envisage them going much further than the round of 16 unless Christian Pulisic, their best, arguably best ever, player emerges from the slump that collectively scuttled AC Milan in April and May. They do have a very good manager and some effective players but functionality, their special sauce for years, can only go so far in exceptional circumstances. Greece is the word…
Paraguay qualified in sixth place in the South American confederation, and this is their first trip to a finals tournament since their run to the quarters in 2010. Their campaign to get here consisted largely of binary scorelines until they beat Argentina 2-1 in Asunción, enjoyed a fine 2-2 away draw with Uruguay and then beat Uruguay at home 2-0. In their only warm-up game of note, they hammered Nicaragua 4-0 last week and look, a wee bit like England’s cricketers in the Ashes, undercooked. They do have Brighton’s excellent Diego Gómez fit, Sunderland’s Omar Alderete on the back of a fine season at the Stadium of Light, former Magpie Miguel Almirón who had an eye for the spectacular plus Antonio Sanabria who has forged a decent career in La Liga and Serie A.
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