Serie A star Christian Pulisic shines for USMNT in World Cup opener against Paraguay

The United States men’s national team got off to a dream start at the 2026 FIFA World Cup as they sealed an emphatic 4-1 victory against Paraguay in their opening game on Friday night. 

Mauricio Pochettino’s side came into the contest as big favourites and they lived up to the billing by producing an outstanding performance in front of their home crowd. 

Former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun stole the headlines by bagging a brilliant brace, but Christian Pulisic also deserved praise for his top-class display. 

During his 45 minutes on the pitch, the AC Milan star registered 35 touches, completed 100 per cent passes in own half and won 5/8 of his ground duels. 

Pulisic was heavily involved in the first goal, squeezing between two defenders with his pace before feeding Weston McKennie, whose cutback was turned into his own goal by Paraguay’s Damian Bobadilla. 

The 27-year-old then brilliantly set up Balogun for the second of the night. 

The Monaco star added another on the stroke of half-time and though Paraguay pulled one back in the 73rd minute, Giovanni Reyna’s stoppage-time goal capped off USMNT’s impressive outing at the SoFi Stadium. 

A winning start for 🇺🇸#FIFAWorldCup

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 13, 2026

Pulisic’s substitution at half-time sparked injury fears, but the talented attacker played down those concerns after the match, saying that was just a precaution. 

He told journalists: “I just got a bit of a kick in the first half, so I’m really hoping that it’s nothing. Taking a little bit of precaution today. But I’m hoping I’ll be fine in the next few days.” 

USMNT will now return to action next Friday when they cross swords with Australia at Lumen Field in Seattle. 

Stats from Sofascore