Folarin Balogun scored twice as the United States opened their first home World Cup in 32 years with their biggest win of the tournament, a 4-1 victory over Paraguay in Los Angeles on Friday.
Christian Pulisic had an assist in a brilliant first half for the Americans, who thrilled their fans with a blistering attack as they raced to a 3-0 halftime lead – the team’s biggest in any World Cup game.
Gio Reyna scored another goal late in the second period, giving the Americans four goals in a World Cup match for the first time.
The U.S. scored just three combined goals in four World Cup games in Qatar four years ago, and had never scored more than three goals in a World Cup game.
But the Americans were a changed team when they played in coach Mauricio Pochettino’s more creative system in front of an enthusiastic and star-studded crowd of 70,492.
Mauricio scored in the second half for Paraguay, but they fell behind early in their first World Cup match in 16 years.
