{"id":1691,"date":"2026-06-13T17:33:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T17:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691"},"modified":"2026-06-13T17:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T17:33:26","slug":"hollywood-ending-us-storms-past-paraguay-as-world-cup-returns-to-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691","title":{"rendered":"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Folarin Balogun fired his second goal into the top far corner of Paraguay\u2019s net and then led his American teammates to the corner of their home stadium, reveling in the frenzy created by their historic first half at their World Cup opener.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1689\">If a power line falls on your car, do not get out. Here\u2019s why.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The world\u2019s biggest soccer tournament finally returned to the U.S. on Friday night after a generation of anticipation.<\/p>\n<p><b>RELATED STORY | <\/b><b>Mexico kicks off the 2026 World Cup with a 2-0 win over South Africa<\/b><\/p>\n<p>With this phenomenal match, the Americans also look like they&#8217;ve arrived.<\/p>\n<p>Balogun scored twice in the Americans&#8217; three-goal barrage before halftime, and the U.S. opened its first home World Cup in 32 years with its biggest win in the tournament, a dynamic 4-1 victory over Paraguay.<\/p>\n<p>Christian Pulisic had an assist in a stellar first-half playmaking performance for the Americans, who enthralled their Southern California fans with an aggressive attack while streaking to a 3-0 lead \u2014 the team&#8217;s largest in any World Cup game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt meant everything for us,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cA half like that, for it to go as it did, and have the fans excited about our performance, it felt amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gio Reyna ripped another goal in the dying moments of second-half injury time, giving the Americans four goals in a World Cup match for the first time in their tournament history dating to 1930.<\/p>\n<p>This production, this confidence, this dominance \u2014 it was nothing like the vast majority of the Americans&#8217; previous performances on the international stage over the years and decades.<\/p>\n<p>They&#8217;ve won exactly one knockout-round game in the World Cup. They&#8217;ve almost always struggled to score in the biggest events, most recently managing only three goals combined in their four matches at the Qatar World Cup in 2022.<\/p>\n<p><b>RELATED STORY | <\/b><b>The US is hosting the World Cup, but nearly half of Americans don\u2019t care<\/b><\/p>\n<p>In this pressure-packed home opener, the Americans were a team transformed while playing in coach Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s more creative system in front of a passionate, star-studded Los Angeles crowd of 70,492. Led by the elite talent and coach-inspired fearlessness of Balogun, Pulisic and Weston McKennie up front, the U.S. finally had its breakthrough performance at SoFi Stadium.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to compare with the past,\u201d said Pochettino, who took over in late 2024. \u201cI don\u2019t know what happened in the past. I think we need to talk about today, because it was a great match. It was amazing for our fans to see, to watch this type of game, and today, I am so proud and we are so proud. I think we are winning a lot of fans, adding fans for the sport here in America.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1687\">WATCH: Valley Team USA fans celebrate win, look ahead to other major sports games this weekend<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Not everything went perfectly: Pulisic was replaced by Sebastian Berhalter at halftime for precautionary reasons. Pochettino said Pulisic was kicked in the back of his left calf during a training session this week, and felt some subsequent tightness during the match.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStaying positive,\u201d Pulisic said. \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Maur\u00edcio scored in the second half for Paraguay, but La Albirroja fell too far behind early in their first World Cup match in 16 years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe U.S. won this match very clearly and fairly,\u201d Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro said through an interpreter. \u201cThey dominated tactically, technically and physically as well. &#8230; This team is a complex challenge because they have answers to everything you throw at them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After the U.S. went ahead on an early own-goal created by Pulisic&#8217;s playmaking, Balogun scored in the 31st minute and again in the fifth minute of first-half injury time.<\/p>\n<p>The New York-born, London-raised striker made his World Cup debut with the first multigoal performance from a U.S. player in the tournament since 1930. Balogun chose to represent the U.S. three years ago instead of staying in the English system, where he likely would have struggled to make the Three Lions&#8217; roster \u2014 and the 24-year-old Monaco professional has swiftly provided the top-level striker play historically lacking on U.S. rosters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPoch has said many times, \u2018Why not us?\u2019\u201d Balogun said. \u201cWe have to believe. You can\u2019t do anything if you don\u2019t believe in yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pulisic created the first two U.S. goals with exceptional runs down the left side. In the seventh minute, the AC Milan standout cleverly split two defenders and passed to McKennie, whose centering touch hit Paraguay midfielder Dami\u00e1n Bobadilla\u2019s outstretched foot and went in, setting off pandemonium in the stands.<\/p>\n<p>The Americans gradually amplified their attack centered around Pulisic\u2019s runs \u2014 and three minutes after an apparent goal from Balogun was erased by an offside call, Pulisic again drove the left side and got a deflected pass to the trailing Balogun, who banged it home.<\/p>\n<p>Malik Tillman then made a perfectly weighted pass in injury time to Balogun, who sidled through the Paraguay defense and beautifully found the top shelf.<\/p>\n<p>The Americans were less cohesive without Pulisic in the second half, but Reyna still added the finishing touch by gliding into the box and toe-flicking home his first World Cup goal. The moment was sweet for Reyna, who barely played at the Qatar World Cup amid a messy family dispute with former U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens of American celebrities and cultural icons turned out for the match 10 miles south of Hollywood, including Tom Cruise, George Lucas, Bill Gates, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1685\">11 people shot, 1 killed in Texas mass shooting; suspect is found dead<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Balogun scored twice as the U.S. surged to a historic 4-1 win over Paraguay, opening their first home World Cup in 32 years in dominant style.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA - Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Balogun scored twice as the U.S. surged to a historic 4-1 win over Paraguay, opening their first home World Cup in 32 years in dominant style.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arizona Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-13T17:33:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"headline\":\"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T17:33:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691\"},\"wordCount\":963,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bf8f192cf78508a549b540d2755b2d7f.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691\",\"name\":\"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA - Arizona Moving Insider\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bf8f192cf78508a549b540d2755b2d7f.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-13T17:33:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bf8f192cf78508a549b540d2755b2d7f.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bf8f192cf78508a549b540d2755b2d7f.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682,\"caption\":\"United States' Folarin Balogun (20) celebrates scoring his side's third goal against Paraguay with teamates during the World Cup Group D soccer match in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo\\\/Andre Penner)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?p=1691#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arizona Moving Insider\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arizonamovinginsider.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA - Arizona Moving Insider","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA - Arizona Moving Insider","og_description":"Balogun scored twice as the U.S. surged to a historic 4-1 win over Paraguay, opening their first home World Cup in 32 years in dominant style.","og_url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691","og_site_name":"Arizona Moving Insider","article_published_time":"2026-06-13T17:33:26+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb"},"headline":"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA","datePublished":"2026-06-13T17:33:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691"},"wordCount":963,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf8f192cf78508a549b540d2755b2d7f.jpg","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691","name":"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA - Arizona Moving Insider","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf8f192cf78508a549b540d2755b2d7f.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-13T17:33:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf8f192cf78508a549b540d2755b2d7f.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf8f192cf78508a549b540d2755b2d7f.jpg","width":1024,"height":682,"caption":"United States' Folarin Balogun (20) celebrates scoring his side's third goal against Paraguay with teamates during the World Cup Group D soccer match in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo\/Andre Penner)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=1691#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hollywood ending: US storms past Paraguay as World Cup returns to LA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/","name":"Arizona Moving Insider","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9c272b4cf18e019eb01eb3c1b5d855fb","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com"],"url":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}