U.S. men's national team beats Paraguay 4-1 in World Cup opener
The U.S. men's national team defeated Paraguay 4-1 on Friday in its opening match of the 2026 World Cup. Two goals came from Folarin Balogun. The result marked the team's first three-goal World Cup win since 1930.
ESPNThe U.S. men's national team defeated Paraguay 4-1 in its opening match of the 2026 World Cup on Friday. Folarin Balogun scored twice. The margin matched the team's last three-goal World Cup victory, which also came against Paraguay in 1930. The performance produced an 80.5% field tilt, the fourth-highest mark recorded by any team in an opening World Cup match since the field expanded to 32 teams in 1998.
Two teams posted higher figures in this tournament but did not win their matches.
Historical context The last time the U.S. men's national team recorded a comparable result at a World Cup, several common technologies did not yet exist, including live television and commercial air travel. That 1930 match took place in Montevideo, Uruguay. The 4-1 score is comparable in margin to a 20-point NBA win or a 23-point NFL win, according to the report.
Statistical measures Field tilt measures territorial control by focusing only on the final thirds of the field. The U.S. figure of 80.5% placed it among the most dominant opening-match performances in the modern era. Spain in 2010 and Argentina in 2018 posted higher field-tilt numbers in opening matches they did not win.
Switzerland and Türkiye recorded similar dominance earlier in the current tournament without securing victories.
