United States Makes Early World Cup Statement

The first week of the 2026 World Cup delivered just about everything you could want from a tournament’s opening stanza. FIFA’s “supersize me” World Cup has already treated us hypnotized viewers with a gluttonous feast of stunning results, star-making (and star-affirming) performances, and enough narrative threads to weave a small blanket.

Of the 40 (out of 48) national teams to have taken the pitch by time of writing, only an infant’s handful are feeling better about their opening-match performance than Mauricio Pochettino’s United States Men’s National Team. The Stars and Stripes put on a passing and finishing clinic at the expense of Paraguay in Los Angeles, to the tune of a 4-1 win that stands as the most lopsided U.S. victory at a World Cup in 96 years.

After a Christian Pulisic-authored attack resulted in a Paraguay own goal inside of eight minutes, Folarin Balogun bagged a beauty of a brace to close out the first half at 3-0. Paraguay pulled one goal back in the 73rd minute, but that was negated by substitute Giovanni Reyna’s saucy outside-of-the-boot strike for the Americans’ fourth goal in stoppage time. The stellar performance – arguably the best the U.S. has looked in Pochettino’s two years as coach – put the Argentine in a bold mood after the match.

“When you talk about America, that passion, that feeling, today [the fans] were amazing. And now they realize that soccer here in America is massive. It’s big. And be careful, other sports,” Pochettino half-jokingly warned.

Elsewhere, some of the brightest stars in the game reminded us why they’re worth the price of admission, even at these historically-ballooning ticket prices. Lionel Messi, the greatest to ever play the game and quite possibly still the best player in the world even at 38, scored thrice for Argentina against Algeria, the tournament’s first hat trick. They were Messi’s 14th, 15th, and 16th career World Cup goals, equaling Miroslav Klose’s record for the most all-time.

Not far behind is French phenom Kylian Mbappé, who scored a pair of great goals as part of France’s 3-1 win over a stout Senegalese team. The 27-year-old raised his tally to 14 goals in just 15 World Cup appearances, an unheard-of scoring pace.

Not to be outdone, Norwegian striking superstar Erling Haaland made the most of his long-awaited World Cup debut, scoring two goals as part of his country’s 4-1 win over Iraq.

Not every star got off on the right foot, though. Lamine Yamal, Spain’s teenage supernova, only managed an ineffective 19 minutes off the bench due to a nagging hamstring injury. And he got no support from his Spanish teammates, who remarkably failed to score against African island nation Cabo Verde and, particularly, its 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha, who came up with seven massive saves (and gained about 11 million Instagram followers in the process) in the 0-0 draw.

Spain weren’t the only group favorite to drop points, however. Brazil, Netherlands, and Belgium all drew their opening games as well. Granted, their respective opponents of Morocco, Japan, and Egypt are no slouches.

The second week of group stage action features fewer sexy matchups than the first (and third) weeks, but we’ve already seen plenty of proof so far this World Cup that any match has the potential to create memories that, for some, will last a lifetime.

While MLS is on break, The Verde Report has its eye on World Cup action.

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