United States take on Paraguay in their opening 2026 FIFA World Cup Group D match at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday, June 12, 2026 – which just so happens to be a pretty big deal for the USA. Kick off’s at 6:00 PM PT (9:00 PM ET / 2:00 AM BST / 3:00 AM WAT on June 13) , some 10 hours ahead of the UK and a day ahead of most of Africa. Mauricio Pochettino‘s co-hosts USA start their campaign at home in front of their own supporters with a whole load of expectation on them, while Paraguay are out to pull off a major upset and grab some points in their long awaited return to the World Cup.
Match Preview
The USA will be entering the tournament as one of the host nations, with the added benefit of home support and a fairly talented squad put together by their coach. There’s youth and experience mixed in there too which should give them a real boost. But despite showing some promise in the recent friendlies they still have some questions to answer about being consistent in front of goal.
Paraguay, however, return to the World Cup for the first time since 2010 and they’re not coming back empty-handed – they’ve got a strong defensive solidity, some physicality to their game and set-piece threats. They actually beat the USA in a friendly back in November 2025 2-1, so this isn’t going to be an easy game for the USA at all – especially in what is effectively their World Cup ‘home opener’.
Expect the place to be rocking at SoFi Stadium for what should be an intense game, with the USA likely to control the ball but Paraguay looking to hit the USA on the break and get some aerial threats going their way. Early on you might expect a cagey game but as it warms up all bets are off – so keep an eye out for some goals coming along, but also a World Cup debut match can often be tight and finely balanced.
Head to head the USA do have a bit of an edge over Paraguay in their recent meetings – but Paraguay are never easy opponents.
Possible Starting Lineups
USA (4-3-3 or 3-4-2-1): Turner – Scally, Richards (who’s just back from injury to boot), Ream, Robinson – Adams, Musah, McKennie – Pulisic, Balogun, Giovanni Reyna
Mauricio Pochettino’s got a welcome boost with Chris Richards back fit after that bout of ankle trouble and Christian Pulisic is the star man and captain of the side – with Giovanni Reyna chipping in with some flair from midfield, and Folarin Balogun leading the line for the USA.
Paraguay (4-4-2 or 5-4-1): Fernández – Romero, Balbuena, Alonso, Espínola – Almirón, Rojas, Villasanti, Enciso – Miguel Almirón, Mohanad Ali
Gustavo Alfaro’t set his team up to be pretty tight and solid at the back, and Miguel Almirón and Mohanad Ali are the 2 guys who are going to lead the line for Paraguay – they’ve got a bit of set piece danger and a strong midfield – so the USA will need to be switched on to beat them.
Prediction
The USA should be the ones starting strongly, thanks to that home advantage and the overall quality of the team they’ve got. But Paraguay are likely to park the bus and get men behind the ball and look to catch the USA on the break – which might just be enough to get them a goal – so I’ve got them scoring once. On the other hand the USA have got a bit of depth – and that motivation of playing at home in the opening game of the World Cup should get them a solid win to kick off their campaign.
Final score prediction: USA 2-1 Paraguay
