Sports
U.S. players see their electric win over Paraguay as the start of a push to win over fans
The U.S. men’s soccer team isn’t only trying to win games in this World Cup. It is trying to win hearts and minds as well.
“We want the game to grow,” star midfielder Christian Pulisic said. “We want to get Americans excited to watch this game, to watch our team. That’s obviously a big goal of ours. And being successful would give that the best boost.”
The Americans certainly got a great start Friday, opening the second World Cup played on U.S. soil with a dominant 4-1 win over Paraguay. It was one of the most complete performances the American men have had on the sport’s biggest stage, with Folarin Balogun scoring twice, Pulisic setting up two goals, and just one momentary lapse on defense separating goalkeeper Matt Freese from a shutout.
The U.S. passed well, defended well and, most important, was clinical and dangerous in front of the net, finishing well.
U.S. midfielder Giovanni celebrates with Antonee Robinson and Sebastian Berhalter after scoring against Paraguay.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“It was a real statement,” Balogun said. “And that’s what we wanted. I’m very delighted with the overall performance.”
The effort was warmly received by a sold-out crowd of 70,492 at SoFi Stadium, with record-setting crowds watching on TV throughout the country.
Fox Sports announced 15.99 million watched the win, making it the most-viewed U.S. World Cup match on English-language television.
And the Spanish-language broadcast drew a total audience of 8.9 million across Telemundo, Peacock and Telemundo’s streaming platforms. It was the most-watched U.S. World Cup match on Spanish-language television network platforms, harking back to the 1994 World Cup, the first played in the U.S. that also attracted record TV audiences.
At 38, captain Tim Ream is the only member of the team who was alive in 1994, but he and his younger teammates repeatedly have been reminded of the impact that tournament had on soccer in the U.S. That 1994 team won just one game, though, scored just two goals and didn’t make it past the round of 16.
This team is convinced it can do better — on and off the field.
Fans cheer after U.S. beat Paraguay to open the World Cup Friday at SoFi Stadium.
(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)
“It’s trying to be an inspiration for the next generation and grow the game,” midfielder Tyler Adams said. “I think we have the opportunity to do that.”
Part of that is kick-starting the kind of interest in soccer that briefly swept the country during the first U.S. World Cup 32 years ago. And this team certainly energized fans Friday.
“Having this crowd around us, seeing the red, white and blue, it’s awesome,” Pulisic said. “It’s really pushing us forward. We just hope it continues like that.”
It will if Pulisic and Co. continue playing like that.
The U.S. controlled the ball for nearly an hour of the 90 minutes, completed more than twice as many passes as Paraguay and took almost twice as many shots. It was a game that was as attractive and inviting as it was one-sided, one that might turn the most skeptical viewer into a fan.
It was, midfielder Weston McKennie said, the kind of game that could push the U.S. closer to becoming a proper soccer nation.
American midfielder Weston McKennie outruns two Paraguay defenders.
(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)
“Because it’s a World Cup and it’s in America, people came out,” McKennie said. “We’re OK with that. There’s a lot of people that maybe have never come out to support us. But hopefully today, with this performance, they can connect with us.
“You feel this electricity in the stadium and the passion. That’s one thing that’s going to change soccer here.”
Pulisic and McKennie helped put the U.S. in front to stay in the seventh minute, although the goal was credited to Paraguayan midfielder Damián Bobadilla, who got his right foot in front of a McKennie pass intended for Balogun and deflected it into the net for an own goal. Pulisic made the whole sequence happen, however, pushing the ball between a pair of defenders before poking it on to McKennie in the center of the box.
Balogun scored twice in the final 20 minutes of the first half, one-timing a perfect pass from Pulisic in from the penalty spot in the 31st minute, then running on to a perfectly weighted through ball from Malik Tillman and avoiding two defenders to line a left-footed shot into the top left corner five minutes into stoppage time.
The brace was the first of Balogun’s international career and came in his World Cup debut before a crowd of family and friends, a cheering section he saluted from behind the goal line after scoring.
“I had to sort through a lot of ticket [requests.] It’s a dream night, you know? I’ve not been able to take it all in,” said Balogun, whose brace marked the first multigoal game by an American in the World Cup since 1930.
And that wasn’t the only history the U.S. made Friday. Defender Chris Richards, whose status for the opener was in doubt after he tore two ligaments in his left ankle a month ago, completed all 83 of his passes, the most without a miss in a World Cup game since 1966.
Mauricio pulled one of those goals back for Paraguay in the 73rd minute, before Gio Reyna closed the scoring with his first World Cup goal deep in stoppage time.
Pulisic, who said he took a kick to his left calf in the first half, was replaced by Sebastian Berhalter to start the second. Pulisic showed no signs of injury while talking with reporters after the match, and coach Mauricio Pochettino is hopeful the injury will not limit Pulisic during the next match Friday against Australia.
For the U.S., the commanding win over Paraguay was just the start. The best, the players promise, is yet to come.
Fans fill SoFi Stadium during the U.S. World Cup win over Paraguay on Friday.
(Kelvin Kuo/Los Angeles Times)
“Today was a great starting point for us,” McKennie said. “But we know that’s just a start and this is something we don’t want to over-celebrate. Because we want this to be the normal for us.
“We have two more games to go in the group. Hopefully we improve.”
Added Pulisic: “There’s so much more we want to accomplish.”
And not all of that will take place on the field.
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The 2026 FIFA World Cup Golden Boot odds took another major twist.
On Sunday, Kai Havertz surged up the oddsboard from +1900 to +950 after his two-goal performance in Germany’s 7-1 rout over Curaçao.
Havertz became the first German player to record a brace in consecutive World Cups since Miroslav Klose did so in 2006 and 2010.
The German forward now sits third on the Golden Boot oddsboard, only trailing Kylian Mbappé (+650) and Harry Kane (+700).
While Havertz made a big move, no player’s odds have taken a bigger leap through the first five days of the tournament than Folarin Balogun.
Prior to the tournament, the U.S. men’s national team’s striker was not even listed on some books, and +10000 at some— that’s 100-1. Now, after scoring two goals in USA’s opening win vs. Paraguay, his odds have shortened dramatically to +2200.
Balogun went from not even being in the Golden Boot discussion to ninth on the oddsboard.
Seeing this big of a shift is extremely unprecedented this early in the tournament. But the books fully believe Balogun’s dominance is here to stay.
The Golden Boot award is given to the top goalscorer of the tournament and should be one of the most popular individual betting markets this summer.
Let’s dive into the updated odds at FanDuel Sportsbook as of June 15.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
Golden Boot Winner 2026
Kylian Mbappé: +550 (bet $10 to win $65 total)
Harry Kane: +600 (bet $10 to win $70 total)
Kai Havertz: +950 (bet $10 to win $105 total)
Erling Haaland: +1300 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Julián Alvarez: +1600 (bet $10 to win $170 total)
Lionel Messi: +1700 (bet $10 to win $180 total)
Mikel Oyarzabal: +1900 (bet $10 to win $200 total)
Cristiano Ronaldo: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Folarin Balogun: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Vinícius Júnior: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Lamine Yamal: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Michael Olise: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Raphinha: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Jamal Musiala: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Lautaro Martínez: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Romelu Lukaku: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Cody Gakpo: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Ousmane Dembélé: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Balogun’s performance in the U.S. opener was historic on several accounts. Here’s some context provided by FOX Sports Research:
- Balogun recorded his first multi-goal game for the U.S.
- Balogun became the second American man ever to score two goals in the first half of a World Cup match, and the first since 1930 (Bert Patenaude).
- Bert Patenaude scored a hat-trick that game in 1930, and it also came against Paraguay; he is the only American man to have a hat-trick in a World Cup match.
- This was Balogun’s first World Cup appearance, meaning this was his first time scoring in the World Cup.
- Balogun became the first American man to have multiple goals in a World Cup game since Patenaude in 1930.
- Balogun became the fifth U.S. man with multiple career World Cup goals (Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Bert Patenaude, Brian McBride)
Despite Balogun’s stellar play, Kylian Mbappé remains the favorite at +550 with Harry Kane right on his heels at +600.
Mbappé is France’s most accomplished active player and became the national team’s captain after the 2022 World Cup. He won the Golden Boot at that tournament with eight goals, including a hat trick in the final, and played a key role in France’s 2018 World Cup title.
Kane is England’s all-time leading goalscorer. He’s also won the award before, doing so in 2018.
Miguel Rojas had practiced his dance moves in the Dodgers’ dugout Monday, long before he hit the go-ahead home run. Before the game, he strutted around, at one point even grabbing Dalton Rushing, decked in full catcher’s gear, to get hyped.
Rojas, who pinch-hit for Alex Freeland in the bottom of the seventh and homered to left, was more measured as he crossed the plate without any antics. His veteran steadiness never indicated that he‘d hit a pinch-hit home run only one other time in his career.
“It feels pretty good,” Rojas said. “It’s always a new day, a new opportunity that you contribute to win a baseball game. It’s pretty special, especially with this group that we have right here and the kind of season that we’re having.”
The Dodgers’ 4-3 win over Tampa Bay rid them of their middling road performance. The team split a six-game trip, capped by a Sunday loss to the Chicago White Sox, before returning home.
No one found more immediate success than Kyle Tucker, who temporarily put his .227 batting average on the trip in the rearview mirror. For how long remains a question. Tucker’s season so far has looked more like a teenager testing out their driver’s license: stopping and starting and stopping again. Yet everything seemed to be working when the Dodgers (46-27) beat the Rays (41-28).
“I would love to come back and do it again and make it consistent every single day,” Tucker said. “I guess, if it works out for one at-bat, it’s not like I immediately figured it out and everything is fine now. The important thing is, just try to do it every single at-bat. And, over the course of time — It felt good and everything. I’ve just got to try to do it again tomorrow.”
Of the five Dodgers who’ve played at least 60 games, Tucker has the lowest batting average (.239). Still, he battled in an eight-pitch duel in the second inning before taking a changeup 384 feet over the wall in right-center.
“It was nice,” Tucker said. “Mookie [Betts] did a good job getting that double in front of us, and [Max] Muncy was able to leg that single out. I just had an opportunity, and sitting on the ball right there was huge. Nice swing.”
His home run tied the score at three apiece, and Tucker wasn’t finished.
The next inning, the Rays’ Ben Williamson hit a two-out single to Tucker in right field, and Tampa’s Jonathan Aranda darted around third toward home. Tucker lasered a ball to Rushing, who tagged Aranda out on the slide.
“We play so many games that it can get frustrating,” Tucker said of the season’s ups and downs. “You’ve just gotta try to move on to the next batter or the next game and do your best with that. That’s what I’ve been trying to do.”
Miguel Rojas acknowledges the bullpen after homering in the seventh inning.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
The defensive play helped buoy an otherwise precarious start by pitcher Eric Lauer. The left-hander had been undefeated in three starts with the Dodgers, a large departure from the 1-5 record he had with the Toronto Blue Jays. After starting his year with a 6.69 ERA, Lauer had recorded a 2.76 mark with the Dodgers.
But inconsistencies plagued Lauer’s start, ranging from the three earned runs he gave up in the first two innings to a pitch clock violation in the fourth. While Lauer eventually settled, the command of his fastball remained absent. He normally crosses the strike zone with 53.7% accuracy on his fastball, getting batters to chase about 37% of the time. In the series opener, Lauer threw his four-seamer in the zone only 42% of the time, cutting his chase rate to 23%.
In other words, the best pitch in Lauer’s arsenal became one of his worst, and the Rays took advantage. Junior Caminero doubled in the first inning, and Ryan Vilade followed with a home run on a cutter, silencing a sold-out Dodger Stadium before the game could even heat up. The Rays tacked on another run on a safety squeeze, taking the lead until Tucker’s home run. Lauer finished after six innings, giving up the three earned runs, six hits and three walks, striking out four.
“The toughest inning for starters is that first inning, to get the flow of the game and to get the feel of what’s working, what’s not,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “My challenge [to Lauer] was to have that reliever mindset from the outset and be more on the attack and not feel your way into the game.”
Tampa Bay starter Nick Martinez fared about as well. The right-hander lasted 5-1/3 innings of three-run baseball, striking out six and walking one.
While there was movement on the bases for both starters, the game lulled until the seventh. A couple of feet separated Rushing’s foul ball from a home run. Reliever Steven Matz didn’t get so lucky with Rojas, who delivered his first homer since April 20.
Rojas acknowledged that pinch-hitting has been a challenge to adapt to, locating the pitches he can do the most damage on and putting together good at-bats in big moments. “I’ve never been a really good pinch-hitter,” he said.
After consulting with players such as Jason Heyward and Chase Utley and his former Venezuelan winter ball teammates, Rojas said he feels his mentality has changed and he’s been able to capitalize on more mistakes.
“The mentality for us bench players is to be the best players off the bench [in] the league,” Rojas said.
Espinal to be DFA’d
To make room for Tommy Edman on Tuesday’s roster in his return after he underwent ankle surgery over the winter, the Dodgers will designate Santiago Espinal for assignment. Espinal had returned to the roster May 29 after being DFA’d that month. He went five for eight on the trip but didn’t play Monday.
“[Espinal] has been great for us, but the fit right now with our ballclub just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense,” Roberts said.
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Cape Verde is a small island nation located off the coast of Africa. Its population is just over 524,800 and each one of them had to have been jubilant following their soccer team’s FIFA World Cup result against Spain.
Spain is one of the favorites to win the World Cup this year, but only picked up one point in their match against Cape Verde. The two sides came to a 0-0 tie on Monday in one of the biggest shockers of the tournament so far.
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Cape Verde players celebrate after the World Cup Group H soccer match against Spain in Atlanta on June 15, 2026. (Mike Stewart/AP)
Cape Verde’s 40-year-old goalkeeper Vozinha kept Spain at bay in the first half despite an onslaught of shots. Spain had seven shots on goal, compared to Cape Verde’s one, but could never find the back of the net.
Mikel Oyarzabal took five of the seven shots.
Spanish sensation Lamine Yamal started the game off the bench, but even he couldn’t find the shot to get past Cape Verde.
The two squads will come away with one point each in the Group H matchup. It makes the road for Spain that much difficult as they await the result from the Saudi Arabia-Uruguay matchup later Monday.
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Cape Verde’s Dailon Livramento and Sidny Lopes Cabral celebrate after the World Cup Group H match against Spain in Atlanta on June 15, 2026. (Erik S. Lesser/AP)
Cape Verde is making its first World Cup appearance. The nation was a part of Portugal when the World Cup first began. It didn’t immediately become a FIFA member either.
The country started to vie for a World Cup appearance in 2002. They didn’t qualify for the tournament until this year as the field expanded to 48 nations.
Cape Verde is ranked 67th among FIFA members.
Spain won the World Cup in 2010 when the tournament took place in South Africa. In the last two tournaments, the nation only got as far as the round of 16.
Cape Verde goalkeeper Vozinha celebrates a 0-0 draw during the World Cup Group H soccer match between Spain and Cape Verde in Atlanta on June 15, 2026. (Jacob Kupferman/Associated Press)
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Spain entered this year’s World Cup ranked No. 2.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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