Takeaways: A strong World Cup opening win was 32 years in the making for USMNT

It’s been 32 years since the United States last hosted a World Cup match on home soil.

On Friday night in Los Angeles, the Stars and Stripes put together one of its most impressive performances on the sport’s biggest stage, rolling past Paraguay, 4-1, to get a massive leg up in Group D play. This was clearly a win that was more than three decades in the making.

Having watched and been a part of the evolution of the sport in the United States over this time, the USMNT has certainly come a long way. There have been significant ups and downs along the journey.

There was the horrendous showing on the world’s biggest stage in 1998—going out in flames in France. The team finished dead last in the tournament (32nd out of 32) after dropping all three group stage matches and scoring only a single goal.

Changes were made, and with Major League Soccer starting to hit its stride in its early years, led by young stars like Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, the USMNT stunned Portugal at the start of the 2002 World Cup. It stands as the one match in modern history that may be on par with Friday’s performance. In that case, Portugal came into the tournament as a heavy favorite to win the group, but the Americans didn’t just win; they dismantled the Portuguese defense early on. The U.S. took a commanding 3-0 lead by the 36th minute, thanks to a goal from John O’Brien, an own goal, and a brilliant header by Brian McBride.

The win vs. Portugal gave the USMNT the belief and momentum to make a historic run to that tournament’s Quarterfinal. A ‘dos a cero’ victory over Mexico in the Round of 16 led to an unprecedented appearance in the tournament’s elite eight against Germany. The U.S. would lose to Germany in a tight, controversial 1-0 match, but came away from that cycle with immense momentum.

The next three World Cup cycles brought a roller coaster of results. The program bounced back from a disappointing group-stage exit in 2006 with exciting advancements into the knockout stages in 2010 and 2014. In each case, however, they could not get past the Round of 16 as the core of young players that emerged in the 2000s started to age out. Still, this was a dominant period for the U.S. in the CONCACAF region, often getting the upper hand on arch-rival Mexico and winning numerous Gold Cups. The peak of the era culminated in 2009, when they put together a stunning run at the Confederations Cup, defeating Egypt, shocking top-ranked Spain in the semifinals, before ultimately dropping the final to Brazil.

Things once again bottomed out in 2018 in embarrassing fashion, failing to survive qualifying and missing out on the tournament entirely.

Armed with a young, European-based foundation, the USMNT returned to the World Cup stage at the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Despite advancing to the knockout round behind stellar defensive play—including massive group-stage clean sheets against England and Iran—they were eliminated by an elite Dutch side in the Round of 16. What followed was an exhausting wave of off-field drama centered around young talent Gio Reyna’s displeasure with his role under Gregg Berhalter. The worst part of that saga was an uncomfortable swirl of finger-pointing and decades-old accusations involving the Reyna family and Berhalter. While the coach initially retained the support of the USSF hierarchy, poor performances in late 2023 and 2024 eventually forced a change at the top.

Enter Mauricio Pochettino. The former Tottenham and Chelsea skipper inherited a player pool that had rarely been able to put its absolute best XI on the pitch at the same time. Pochettino immediately embraced the embattled and immensely talented Reyna, molding a clear role for him within this group.

And so, here we are. This is a generation of American players spread far and wide, playing for some of the biggest clubs in the world alongside a domestic league that—for all of its structural shortcomings—is celebrating its 30th year of existence. The USMNT has a golden opportunity to make a bold statement as co-hosts.

They are off to a phenomenal start, one heavily reminiscent of that magical morning against Portugal in 2002. But this time, it comes with a much larger domestic spotlight. Soccer’s growth in this country is still evolving, but the scenes from massive watch parties from Los Angeles to Kansas City—and right here in Pittsburgh on Friday night—were spectacular evidence of how far the culture has shifted.

The question now is: can this group go where no modern U.S. squad has gone before? It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch it play out.

 

U.S. Rolls Over Paraguay, 4-1: Takeaways

After a brief, aggressive spell from Paraguay in the opening six minutes, the U.S. found its rhythm and never looked back.

Inserted into the starting lineup as part of Pochettino’s three-man backline, center-back Chris Richards came up massive in the sixth minute. Richards expertly cleared a dangerous, bouncing cross from the right flank just before it could find an open Antonio Sanabria waiting in the center of the six-yard box.

From that moment on, the U.S. attack came in relentless waves.

The scoring began with an own goal born from a brilliant, lightning-fast counter-attack down the left wing. After advancing the ball smoothly past midfield, Weston McKennie sent a laser of a pass through to Christian Pulisic. The Hershey, PA native—and son of former Pittsburgh Riverhounds assistant coach Mark Pulisic—put his elite technical footwork on display, accelerating into a dangerous pocket on the edge of the box.

Pulisic whipped a heavy ball back toward the center intended for Folarin Balogun. Instead, the hard-charging cross deflected off Paraguay midfielder Damián Bobadilla, completely wrong-footing the keeper and finding the back of the net. The dream start instantly evoked memories of the famous own-goal that propelled the USMNT to a 2-1 upset over heavily favored Colombia on home soil in 1994.

Much like his performance in the warm-up match against Senegal, Balogun was a constant menace on the end of high-quality opportunities. After a near-miss in the 17th minute and a disallowed look in the 29th, the striker’s persistence finally paid off with the second goal of the night—and the first off an American foot.

It began with Antonee “Jedi” Robinson pushing high on the left flank, operating in the aggressive wingback role that he and Sergiño Dest seem destined to master in this system. Robinson found Pulisic, who threaded a high-pace pass into the path of Balogun. The Monaco striker provided a clinical, ruthless finish to give the U.S. a comfortable 2-0 cushion.

Driven by an electric, partisan crowd inside Los Angeles Stadium, Balogun wasn’t done.

Just before the halftime whistle, he turned provider and dynamic attacker once again, bagging a spectacular brace to send the U.S. into the tunnel with a commanding 3-0 lead.

While the three-goal cushion felt incredibly secure, the U.S. shape loosened slightly in the second half.

Paraguay, a side that surrendered the fewest goals in South American qualifying, capitalised on a momentary lapse in the U.S. defensive lines when Maurício pulled one back in the 72nd minute to make it 3-1.

Yet, the night belonged to a moment of poetic justice. Heading into the opener, a major talking point on the Sounding Off on Soccer podcast with The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy centered on whether Pochettino would trust Gio Reyna with a starting role.

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Reyna didn’t make the starting XI, but his introduction off the bench in the second half provided the ultimate exclamation point. In the dying moments of stoppage time, Reyna latched onto a sequence and delivered a technically brilliant finish to seal the 4-1 scoreline.

It was a deeply symbolic goal. With one clean strike, Reyna put the ghosts and off-field nightmares of Qatar firmly in the rearview mirror. It was the perfect icing on the cake for one of the finest World Cup performances the USMNT has ever produced.

Hopefully, it’s a sign of even bigger things to come as the group stage rolls on.