United States vs Paraguay Preview

The United States open their World Cup campaign against Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in the early hours of Saturday morning, in a fixture that carries enormous weight for one of the tournament’s three host nations. With a partisan crowd behind them and the eyes of an entire country watching, the Stars and Stripes face a Paraguay side that arrives in strong recent form and will not be willing to make up the numbers in Group D.

The United States come into this tournament opener with a mixed recent record that will have generated some concern in the camp. Their most recent outing ended in a 2–1 home defeat to Germany in their final pre-tournament friendly — a result that came just a week before the World Cup begins. Prior to that, they beat Senegal 3–2 at home — an encouraging if nervy win. Before that, they were beaten 2–0 at home by Portugal, and earlier in this run came a chastening 5–2 home loss to Belgium — a result that exposed real defensive vulnerabilities. The sequence began with a 5–1 home win over Uruguay. Two wins and three defeats across the last five is not the form chart any host nation would have desired, and the pressure on the opening-night performance is considerable.

Paraguay, by contrast, arrive in confident and purposeful form. Their most recent outing produced a dominant 4–0 home win over Nicaragua — an emphatic statement of intent just days before the tournament. Prior to that, they suffered a 2–1 defeat away in Morocco, their only loss in four matches. Before that, they won 1–0 away in Greece — a clean sheet on the road demonstrating their defensive quality. Earlier in this run, they secured a fine 2–1 away win in Mexico, and the sequence began with a 2–1 defeat away to the United States — a result that makes this opener a direct rematch of that November 2025 meeting. Three wins from five, with goals scored against Greece, Mexico and Nicaragua, underlines Paraguay as a dangerous opponent.

The head-to-head record favours the United States, who have won three of the last five meetings, with two wins for Paraguay and no draws. All five encounters have been played on American soil. Most recently, the United States won 2–1 at home in November 2025. In the previous encounter, the United States won 1–0 at home in March 2018.

The home advantage and crowd noise at SoFi Stadium will be a significant factor, but Paraguay’s recent form and ability to win away from home in difficult environments should not be underestimated. The Stars and Stripes will need to address their defensive frailties quickly if they are to control this opener — Paraguay have the quality to punish any lapses.

In the United States, the match is live on the FOX Network, fuboTV, Telemundo and Peacock, with the FOX Sports App and Tubi also streaming the action. In Paraguay, viewers can watch on GEN, Trece and Unicanal. In the UK and Ireland, the game is available on BBC One and via BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.

Lineups & Injuries

USA (4-2-3-1) Freese, Freeman, Robinson, Ream, Dest, Tillman, McKennie, Robinson, Adams, Pulisic, Balogun

Paraguay (4-4-2) Fernández, Gómez, Enciso, Alderete, Alonso, Almirón, Romero, Gómez, Cubas, Sanabria, Cáceres

Both squads appear to be at full strength for this Group D opener, leaving both camps with the welcome luxury of a fully fit pool of players for their World Cup debut.

Group D

Pos	Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	USA	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	Paraguay	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	Australia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	Türkiye	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

USA Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	United States	1 – 2	Germany	International Friendly	Jun 6, 2026
✅	United States	3 – 2	Senegal	International Friendly	May 31, 2026
❌	United States	0 – 2	Portugal	International Friendly	Apr 1, 2026
❌	United States	2 – 5	Belgium	International Friendly	Mar 28, 2026
✅	United States	5 – 1	Uruguay	International Friendly	Nov 19, 2025

Paraguay Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
✅	Paraguay	4 – 0	Nicaragua	International Friendly	Jun 5, 2026
❌	Morocco	2 – 1	Paraguay	International Friendly	Mar 31, 2026
✅	Greece	0 – 1	Paraguay	International Friendly	Mar 27, 2026
✅	Mexico	1 – 2	Paraguay	International Friendly	Nov 19, 2025
❌	United States	2 – 1	Paraguay	International Friendly	Nov 15, 2025

Head to Head

Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
United States	2 – 1	Paraguay	International Friendly	Nov 15, 2025
United States	1 – 0	Paraguay	International Friendly	Mar 28, 2018
United States	1 – 0	Paraguay	Copa América	Jun 12, 2016
United States	0 – 1	Paraguay	International Friendly	Mar 30, 2011
United States	1 – 3	Paraguay	Copa América	Jul 2, 2007

TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Channel
USA	FOX Network, fuboTV, Telemundo, Peacock, FOX Sports App, Tubi
Paraguay	GEN, Trece, Unicanal
Great Britain	BBC One, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport Web
Ireland	BBC One, RTE 2, BBC iPlayer, RTE Player
Brazil	SporTV, Globo, Globoplay, CazéTV
Germany	ORF eins, MagentaTV
France	beIN Sports 1, beIN SPORTS CONNECT, Free
Argentina	TyC Sports Argentina, Telefe Argentina, DIRECTV Sports Argentina
Canada	TSN+, TSN1, CTV App
Australia	SBS, SBS On Demand