World Cup start in Los Angeles
USA celebrates clear opening victory
Updated June 13, 2026 – 10:50 amReading time: 2 minutes
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The hosts have no problems in their first World Cup game in California. The USA hardly gives Paraguay a chance in front of their home crowd.
The USA clearly won its opening game of the World Cup. The World Cup hosts won 4-1 against Paraguay in a sold-out stadium in Los Angeles. The Americans had already taken a clear 3-0 lead in the first half.
32 years after the first World Cup on American soil, the hosts took the lead with a forced own goal from Damian Bobadilla (9th minute). Folarin Balogun from AS Monaco shook the stadium a second and third time before the break (31st, 45th + 5), in between the 24-year-old center forward’s another goal was disallowed for offside (28th). Substitute Giovanni Reyna from Gladbach scored the final point (90+8).
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That’s how the game went
Paraguay, World Cup quarter-finalists in 2010 and appearing in the finals for the first time since then, were frighteningly helpless against the Sturm und Drang of the Americans, who played like they were unleashed in the first half. It was only after the break, when the US team took things a little easier, that the South Americans made a few promising moves forward – Mauricio took advantage of an opportunity (73′).
- World Cup 2026: All information in the news blog
US President Donald Trump called US coach Mauricio Pochettino on the eve of the game and assured him that he was a “fantastic guy” and a “fantastic coach” and that “I know,” the head of state added, “how great the players are. I think they have a really good chance of making it to the top.” First of all, the USA will face Australia on Friday (local time) in Seattle.
Trump himself did not come, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended the game alongside FIFA boss Gianni Infantino. Numerous celebrities gathered in the stands, including Tom Cruise, who was accompanied by Buddy David Beckham and his wife Victoria. Among those spotted were Oscar winner Halle Berry, hotel heiress Paris Hilton and basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
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