There’s no way around it: The U.S. men’s national team was dominant in the first half against Paraguay in its opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup on its way to a 4-1 victory.
The USA got out to a 3-0 lead in Friday’s Group D opener, with striker Folarin Balogun scoring a brace to give the Americans an overwhelming lead. And while the USA’s first goal was a Paraguay own goal, that didn’t stop FOX Sports soccer analyst Alexi Lalas from crowning the 45 minutes of play among the best ever for the federation in the World Cup.
“I think that’s the greatest half of group play from a men’s team at a World Cup in history,” Lalas said at halftime. “Everything went right, total dominance from top to bottom.”
The USA actually could’ve gone up 4-0 in the first half. Balogun got a ball in the back of the net after the USA took a 1-0 lead, but the goal was wiped for offside. Not long after, Balogun made up for it, scoring off a cross from Christian Pulisic before creating an opportunity for himself and scoring top shelf to put the USA up 3-0.
As Balogun scored twice, Pulisic also stood out in the first half. Pulisic was credited with the assist on the own goal, giving him two assists in the first half before he was subbed out at halftime.
“Christian Pulisic was all over the place on the left-hand side, creating opportunities,” Lalas said. “You make your luck. I know this is an own goal, but it put [Paraguay] in a dangerous situation.”
In the first half, the USA outshot Paraguay, 7-2. It also had more shots on goal than Paraguay (4-1) and dominated possession, controlling the ball for 71% of the first 45 minutes.
So, was the first half the best half ever for the USA in a World Cup? Here’s a look at how historically dominant the USA’s first half was by the numbers.
2: Balogun is the second American man ever to score two goals in the first half of a World Cup match, and the first since 1930 (Bert Patenaude). Patenaude scored a hat-trick in that game in 1930, and it also came against Paraguay; he is the only American man to have a hat-trick in a World Cup match.
1: This was Balogun’s first World Cup appearance, meaning this is his first time scoring in the World Cup.
96: This was Balogun’s first career multi-goal game for the U.S.; he is the first American man to have multiple goals in a World Cup game since Patenaude in 1930.
3: Christian Pulisic is now up to three career assists in the World Cup, the most by any American man (two in 2022, one Friday); he joins Tab Ramos and Graham Zusi as the only American men with assists in multiple World Cups.
38: This is the first time the USA has had a three-goal lead after the first half of a men’s World Cup match in 38 World Cup matches.
24: This is the first time the U.S. has had a multi-goal lead after the first half of a men’s World Cup match in 24 years. It held a 2-0 lead in the first half of its group match against Portugal in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
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