The USMNT opened its World Cup with a 4-1 win over Paraguay on Friday night at SoFi Stadium, scoring three times in the opening half for the first time in program history.

Paraguay defender Damián Bobadilla turned a Christian Pulisic-led attack into his own net in the seventh minute, Folarin Balogun converted a Pulisic feed in the 31st minute to make it 2-0, and Balogun added a second just before the break, curling a finish off a Malik Tillman pass, while becoming the first American to find the net twice in a single World Cup game since 1930. Paraguay’s Mauricio got one back in the second half, scoring in the 73rd minute, before substitute Gio Reyna closed out the scoring with a 98th-minute strike.

The night was also the World Cup debut for Fox’s lead broadcast team of John Strong and Stu Holden, who are calling their third consecutive men’s World Cup together. Strong remains one of the most accomplished, least-recognized voices in American sports broadcasting, set to call his fifth World Cup final in any sport this July despite rarely being mentioned alongside names like Joe Buck or Mike Breen.

On the Spanish-language side, Telemundo had Andrés Cantor in the booth alongside Omar Zerón, with Alejandro Berry reporting from the pitch. Cantor’s last World Cup assignment ended with him in tears on air, his call of Argentina’s 2022 final shootout win going viral around the world, and he’s told Awful Announcing before that bilingual broadcasting work like this “is something that keeps me alive.”

Both lead voices were locked in on every goal. Strong had the call for Fox on the own goal, both Balogun strikes, and Reyna’s stoppage-time winner, while Cantor delivered the Telemundo call across the same sequence, though only the Balogun and Reyna goals made it into AA’s clipped highlights below.

USMNT scores first on a Paraguay own goal!

John Strong has the play-by-play call for Fox. #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/aha08ZPlSfhttps://t.co/opoNnmKOWu

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 13, 2026

BALOGUN MAKES IT 2-0 USMNT!

John Strong with the call for Fox. #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/DNxfUbhIfq

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 13, 2026

The Andrés Cantor call on Telemundo of Folarin Balogun’s goal to give the USMNT a 2-0 lead over Paraguay. #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/LLAxzUdtfUhttps://t.co/nnaljjen4d

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 13, 2026

FOLARIN BALOGUN IS GOING OFF! 3-0 USMNT!

John Strong with the play-by-play for Fox. #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/VAa9tKc3rLhttps://t.co/nnaljjen4d

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 13, 2026

Andrés Cantor with the Telemundo call for Folarin Balogun’s latest goal to make it 3-0 USMNT. #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/qKXmJtL61jhttps://t.co/3PX7MwBnYR

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 13, 2026

Gio Reyna puts the exclamation point on a USMNT 4-1 win!

John Strong with the call for Fox. #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/CmEfMlNEB9

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 13, 2026

Andrés Cantor’s call of the Gio Reyna USMNT goal on the Telemundo broadcast. #WorldCuppic.twitter.com/t65bXsMLw7https://t.co/RGopkly5Ij

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 13, 2026

The USMNT’s next group match comes against Australia on June 19 in Seattle, with both Fox and Telemundo expected to have their lead broadcast teams back on the call.

The post Listen to all the goal calls of USMNT’s rout of Paraguay appeared first on Awful Announcing.

The United States Men’s National Team is set to open up its 2026 World Cup run with a Group D showdown against Paraguay on Friday night. While President Donald Trump won’t be in attendance for the game, he did have a message for the team.

In a phone call with the USMNT this week, Trump offered his support to both the team and head coach Mauricio Pochettino, as he declared that he thinks the team can go “all the way” and win the World Cup.

Trump Not Attending the Game

While Trump made history this week by becoming the first sitting president to attend the NBA Finals, watching the New York Knicks host the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 on Monday night, he will not be in attendance for the USMNT’s World Cup opener on Friday night.

Ben Burrows and Henry Bushnell of The Athletic called this decision “highly unusual” for the leader of the host nation.

“Trump’s decision not to attend the first game is highly unusual for a head of state of a tournament co-host. The Emir of Qatar attended in 2022, President Vladimir Putin of Russia attended in 2018 and President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil attended in 2014,” The Athletic wrote.

‘Going All The Way’

Ahead of Friday night’s match against Paraguay, Trump called the team on Thursday night to offer his support heading into the World Cup.

U.S. Soccer posted a 45-second clip of the call to its social media accounts, showing Pochettino and USMNT captain Tim Ream talking on the phone, but a team spokesperson told The Athletic that all 26 players and staff were present for the call.

In the call, Trump praised Pochettino and said that he thinks the team is capable of winning the entire tournament.

“Well, I just got to say you’re a fantastic guy, a fantastic coach, and you’re all about your record and your success, and I know how great the players are,” Trump said in the clip. “I think you’ve got a really good chance of going all the way. I just want to wish you a lot of luck.”

Pochettino expressed his gratitude and told Trump that they were going to work to make him and the country proud.

“Thank you so much for your support, Mr President,” Pochettino said. “We are going to do everything to make you and all the people here in this country proud.”

The USMNT is set to take on Paraguay on Friday night at 9 p.m. to open the World Cup. While this is arguably the USMNT’s most talented World Cup roster yet, plenty of questions remain heading into the tournament.

The post ‘Good chance of going all the way’: Donald Trump sends a message to Team USA before World Cup appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions.