USA vs Paraguay Game Analysis: Group D Starts
The USMNT will start their World Cup play in Inglewood, California, on Friday, June 12 at PayPerHead. The USA takes on Paraguay in the Group D opener that starts at 9 pm EST.
Group D is a highly competitive, balanced group with matches in Los Angeles, Vancouver, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay area. The USMNT are the top-ranked side, which are the favorites to advance. Their Group D Schedule is as follows:
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Stage |
| June 12, 2026 | Paraguay | SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA | Group D – Game 1 |
| June 19, 2026 | Australia | Lumen Field, Seattle, WA | Group D – Game 2 |
| June 25, 2026 | Turkey | SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA | Group D – Game 3 |
If the USMNT advances past Group D, the round of 32 knockout stage will begin in early July.
USA Recent Scores: Defense Issue
As the USA is one of three host nations, along with Canada and Mexico, they did not have to go through the qualifications campaign. The hosting country is automatically granted entry. This year’s tournament will be held across a record three countries and 16 host cities.
The USMNT participated in pre-tournament friendlies, with mixed results. They beat both Paraguay and Australia by the same score (2-1), but in their last two games against Belgium and Portugal, they lost and conceded 7 goals.
Paraguay Recent Scores: Strong Qualifications
Paraguay did well in their FIFA qualifying competitions, only losing once (1-0 against Brazil) and never allowing more than two goals against.
Their pre-tournament friendlies competitions didn’t go as well, with losses against South Korea (2-0), USA (2-1) and Morocco (2-1). But they finished off the pre-tournament with a 4-0 win over Nicaragua.
USA vs Paraguay History: Old Friends
These countries met on the soccer field as far back as the first World Cup in 1930 in Uruguay. USA won 3-0, with all three goals by Bert Patenaude. It was the first hat-trick in a World Cup match and the only hat-trick by a USA player in a World Cup match.
The teams would not meet again until a friendly in 1997. They have since met several times over the years, including a friendly in November of 2025, where Gio Reyna scored the opener for Team USA and then delivered the assist for Folarin Balogun to net the winner, 2-1.
Who's taking the trophy home this year? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/KqIzkqRS7o
— World Cup 2026 (@WorldCupMedia) June 11, 2026
USA vs Paraguay Prediction: Evenly Matched
American Christian Pulisic is a winger, attacking midfielder and forward for AC Milan. He is regarded as one of the best North American players of all time, known for his dribbling, directness and playmaking. He, along with captain Tim Ream, who is a veteran defender, are the focal points of the team.
In the backend, none of the three goalkeepers has done a convincing job to claim the starting spot. We’re waiting to see which one will start against Paraguay, which has its own stars, including 22-year-old attacker Julio Enciso. They rarely give much away, so a clean sheet for one side is a possible outcome.
USA are slight favorites to win, but a draw is highly likely in this first match, as long as they have fixed the problem they encountered in the last two friendly games where they let in seven goals. Our USA vs Paraguay prediction is a 1-1 draw as these teams play cautiously in their first match.
