USMNT Opens Home World Cup with Record 4-1 Win, but Pulisic Injury Clouds the Night

INGLEWOOD, Calif., The scoreboard said everything the home fans wanted to read. Four goals, a record, and a statement in front of a packed SoFi Stadium. The USMNT opened the 2026 World Cup on Friday night with a 4-1 demolition of Paraguay, the kind of result that makes people on sports-talk radio start moving goalposts. By the time the final whistle blew, they were already talking about a run to the final.

Then the injury news came out, and the goalposts got heavier.

Christian Pulisic, the AC Milan forward who is the closest thing U.S. soccer has to a franchise player, did not come out for the second half. His substitution at the break was the one sour note in an otherwise dominant performance. According to reporting by Sports Illustrated, Pochettino told reporters it was a "last minute" decision, and that the issue had actually flared up in training days before the Paraguay match. A knock to the left calf in the first half, combined with cooling down during halftime, left him unable to continue. Pochettino's exact words, per SI: "When it start to get cold, he cannot walk."

Pulisic himself, speaking to journalists at SoFi Stadium after the match as reported by Al Jazeera, sounded like a man trying very hard to sound calm. He called the substitution a precaution and said he was hopeful he'd be fine in the next few days. That's the kind of language that makes team doctors earn their salary.

Now, context. The U.S. was 3-0 up at the break without surrendering a single shot on target. If you're going to rest your best player, that's the half to do it. And Balogun was more than up to the task in the second 45, with his brace already in the books. According to NPR's match report, four goals is a record for the U.S. men, who had never scored more than three in any single World Cup game. That's a legitimate milestone, not a participation-trophy stat.

The own goal by Paraguayan defender Damian Bobadilla came in the seventh minute, the fastest goal the USMNT has ever scored at a World Cup, per CBS Sports' live coverage. Balogun doubled it in the 31st minute, added his second just before halftime, and Gio Reyna capped things off in stoppage time with a finish off the outside of his right boot that had nothing to do with luck.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino had a full deck to play. Defender Chris Richards, back from injury, completed all 83 of his attempted passes, per the Sunday Guardian Live, a perfect passing record in a World Cup match, which is the kind of number that analytic types will cite for the next decade.

The U.S. tops Group D with three points. Paraguay sits at the bottom. According to ESPN's match summary, the Americans have reached the knockout stage in each of their last three World Cup appearances. The pressure of a home tournament doesn't shrink that expectation, it multiplies it.

Next up is Australia in Seattle on June 19, per NPR. That's a week away, which gives Pulisic's left calf exactly one week to cooperate. The USMNT has been building toward this tournament for years. The worst version of this story is that their best player watches most of it from a folding chair in the family section, which is where he ended up watching the second half on Friday night.

They got the result they needed. Whether they got it in one piece is still the question.

Sources cited:
- NPR (https://www.npr.org/2026/06/12/nx-s1-5850736/2026-world-cup-usmnt-paraguay)
- Sports Illustrated (https://www.si.com/soccer/christian-pulisic-injury-progress-potential-return-date-usmnt-star-6-2026)
- Al Jazeera (https://www.aljazeera.com/sports/2026/6/13/usa-vs-paraguay-fifa-world-cup-2026-pulisic-injury-subbed-soccer)
- CBS Sports (https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/usa-paraguay-live-updates-world-cup-2026-score-result/live/)
- Sunday Guardian Live (https://sundayguardianlive.com/sports/fifa-world-cup-2026-results-chris-richards-creates-history-with-perfect-8383-passing-display-as-usa-thrash-paraguay-4-1-205907/)
- ESPN (https://www.espn.com/soccer/match/_/gameId/760417/paraguay-united-states)