INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The noise inside Los Angeles Stadium on Friday night was deafening; 70,492 fans draped in red, white and blue roared with every American attack and chanted “USA!” throughout the 90-minute match.
They were encouraged by a new face on the United States men’s national team. A striker that carried the hopes and hearts of a nation.
That man was Falorin Balogun, and his magical first half against Paraguay propelled the United States to the World Cup start they needed to hopefully advance far in the tournament.
America opened its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign with a convincing 4-1 victory thanks to Balogun’s brace. But the AS Monaco forward was at the center of nearly every meaningful moment in the match.
The first American goal arrived with Balogun’s fingerprints all over it. Weston McKennie’s ball in the box was intended for Balogun, but Paraguay defender Damián Bobadilla intercepted it only to redirect the ball into his own net for an own goal.
In the 28th minute, Balogun thought he had his first World Cup goal. He raced behind the defense and finished clinically, only to see the assistant referee’s flag raised for offside. The celebration was wiped away, but Balogun raised both hands to hype up the crowd.
Three minutes later, Christian Pulisic slipped a perfectly weighted through ball into space. This time there would be no flag and no reprieve for Paraguay. Balogun calmly buried the chance to make it 2-0, sending the stadium into a frenzy.
Just before halftime, he struck again.
He raced into the box, got inside his defender before unleashing a left-footed shot into the upper-left corner of the net to push the lead to 3-0. The opening match at Los Angeles Stadium turned into a celebration and a victory party. American supporters bounced up and down and continued their “USA” chants.
Balogun’s brace made him the first American player to have a multi-goal game in the World Cup since Bert Patenaude did it in 1930, also against Paraguay 96 years ago.
Perhaps that is why Balogun’s story feels almost impossible to separate from fate.
His mother, Florence, was seven months pregnant when she traveled to New York to visit family in 2001. An airline refused to let her fly back to London without a doctor’s note because of her pregnancy. She was forced to remain in Brooklyn where she gave birth to Folorain on July 3. Less than two months later, she returned to England.
In what feels like destiny now, seemed like an inconvenience at the time. But by being born in America, Balogun had citizenship.
Years later, as he was climbing up the ranks of European soccer from Arsenal to Middlesbrough to Monaco, both England and Nigeria pursued him internationally. But his mother never stopped believing that fate wanted him to play for the United States. Balogun eventually came to the same conclusion, choosing the country of his birth and becoming the striker U.S. soccer so desperately needed.
And on Friday night, destiny returned to Los Angeles.
Balogun was substituted in the 72nd minute to a standing ovation. He earned Man of the Match honors. For years, the United States dreamed of finding a forward capable of carrying it deep into a World Cup.
Against Paraguay, that dream suddenly looked a lot more real.
