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The U.S. men's team is set to take on Paraguay in its World Cup opener
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Special Series Soccer Edition Follow the World Cup in the NPR App Find Your Station Sign up for Up First for Soccer Edition on Tuesdays The 2026 FIFA World Cup is from June 11 to July 19, 2026. Sixteen host cities across North America, including Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Seattle, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Kansas City, Miami, and New York/New Jersey in the United States. The NPR Network will have coverage from across the country leading up to and during the championship. The U.S.
The expansion of the tournament to 48 teams means it will be easier than ever to emerge from the group stage. 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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− Game on!
− men's team is playing Paraguay in its World Cup opener, and up 3-1 Updated June 12, 20269:59 PM ET Originally published June 12, 20265:00 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition Becky Sullivan
Christian Pulisic #10 and Weston McKennie #8 of the United States celebrate their side's first goal, an own goal by Damian Bobadilla of Paraguay (not pictured), to go up 1-0 in the 7th minute during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on Friday.
+ dazzles in its World Cup opener, dominating Paraguay 4-1 Updated June 12, 202611:07 PM ET Originally published June 12, 20265:00 AM ET Heard on Morning Edition By
Becky Sullivan
,
Russell Lewis
Christian Pulisic #10 and Weston McKennie #8 of the United States celebrate their side's first goal, an own goal by Damian Bobadilla of Paraguay (not pictured), to go up 1-0 in the 7th minute during the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group D match between USA and Paraguay at Los Angeles Stadium on Friday.
− Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images hide caption
Editor's Update: An own goal by Paraguay puts the U.S.
+ Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images hide caption
INGLEWOOD, Calif.
− ahead 1-0!
+ — In the first FIFA World Cup match to be held on U.S.
− 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.
+ soil in more than three decades, the U.S. men's national soccer team delivered a commanding 4-1 win in their opener against Paraguay.
− The U.S.
+ Soccer Edition World Cup facts and figures to get you sounding like an expert Four goals — two from striker Folarin Balogun plus an own goal by Paraguayan defender Damian Bobadilla and a late strike by American Gio Reyna — electrified the packed and partisan crowd at Los Angeles Stadium.
− makes it 2-0 in the 31st minute!
+ The final tally was a record for the U.S.
− 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.
+ men, who had never scored more than three goals in a single World Cup game.
− Balogun knocks in another to make it 3-0!
+ A confident and unrelenting attack from the U.S.
− 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.
+ had Paraguay on its heels much of the first half.
− made one substitution at the half. A bit of a surprise: midfielder Sebastian Berhalter replaced Pulisic.
+ The Americans' pressure in Paraguay's zone paid off quickly, when a pass from midfielder Weston McKennie deflected off Bobadilla for an own goal in the seventh minute.
− Paraguay finally scores to make it 3-1!
+ Then, the U.S.
− A giveaway by the U.S.
+ striker Balogun took over.
− 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.
——-
INGLEWOOD, Calif.
+ First, in the 31st minute, a cross from forward Christian Pulisic found the foot of Balogun, then the back of the net.
− — The FIFA World Cup has finally arrived once again on American soil.
+ Then, in the stoppage time of the first half, the Monaco striker shed two defenders to find a window, then placed a perfect strike to the upper corner of the goal, where Orlando Gill, the beleaguered Paraguayan goalkeeper, had no chance to save it.
− Soccer Edition World Cup facts and figures to get you sounding like an expert On Friday night in Southern California, the world's largest sporting event returned to the U.S.
+ Soccer Edition The World Cup is starting.
− for the first time in more than three decades when the U.S.
+ Here's what to know and how to watch The Americans were more subdued in a quieter second half.
− 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.
+ Pulisic was pulled at halftime for midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, who became just the second son in a father-son pair to represent the U.S.
− Soccer for nearly a decade — the long-awaited chance to finally rewrite a legacy of inferiority in international soccer.
+ in a World Cup game (his father, the former USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter, who played in the 2002 tournament).
− The heavyweight talent and strong soccer tradition of European and South American teams have long proven elusive for the U.S.
+ After the match, Pulisic told reporters that his calf got a "bit of a kick in the first half." He said he's "hoping it's nothing.
− to match, despite decades of investment in the sport.
+ I'm taking a little bit of precaution today, but I'm hoping I'll be fine in the next few days." Coach Mauricio Pochettino said he believes Pulisic will be available for the next U.S.
− The furthest the U.S.
+ match.
Paraguay midfielder Mauricio scored his team's lone goal in the 73rd minute.
− team has finished in a modern World Cup was a run to the quarterfinals in 2002; since then, the U.S.
+ Late in second-half stoppage time, midfielder Reyna (a late sub) knocked in a goal to extend the U.S.
− has managed just three total wins across all the World Cups.
+ lead 4-1.
− 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.
+ Balogun's World Cup brace is the first by a U.S.
− 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.
+ player since the inaugural tournament in 1930.
− Soccer Edition The World Cup is starting.
+ He is one of 13 players representing the U.S.
− Here's what to know and how to watch "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.
The team's first challenge is Friday's game against Paraguay, currently No.
+ at the World Cup for the first time.
− 40 in FIFA's international rankings.
+ Born in New York City to Nigerian parents and raised in London, Balogun was eligible for all three national teams but chose to join the U.S.
− 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.
+ in 2023.
− "We know that they're gonna be super, super aggressive, so we're going to have to match that.
+ Balogun's family was watching from the stands, and he called the win a statement.
− We saw that the last time we played them," said U.S.
+ "A real dream.
− 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.
+ It was a dreamy night."
Folarin Balogun (r) celebrates scoring the U.S.'s third goal during the team's World Cup 2026 match against Paraguay.
− 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.
+ Richard Heathcote/Getty Images hide caption
Friday's game was evidence of just how far 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.
+ attack has come since the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when the U.S. managed only three goals across all four games it played in.
− Soccer Edition To find the World Cup's Cinderellas, we have to start with the group stage After Friday's match, the U.S.
+ Next up for the U.S.
− will play Australia next week, then wrap up the group stage with a June 25 game against Turkey.
+ is Australia on Friday, June 19 in Seattle, and then the Americans will wrap up the group stage with a June 25 game against Turkey back in Los Angeles.
− 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.
+ With Friday's win, plus either a second win against Australia or Turkey or a draw against both teams, would likely be enough for the U.S.