Where does the USMNT's 4-1 demolition of Paraguay rank among their biggest World Cup wins?

Well that could not have gone much better, could it? On Friday night, Mauricio Pochettino's team began their World Cup campaign with a bang, demolishing Paraguay 4-1 at SoFi Stadium. An own goal by Damián Bobadilla, who inadvertently directed Weston McKennie's cut back into his own net, was the perfect start — and the third-fastest goal scored by a World Cup host in their opening fixture. Only Émile Veinante of France in 1938 and Philipp Lahm of Germany two decades ago have been on target earlier in such a match.

After that, Folarin Balogun took center stage, on target twice in 14 minutes before half time, becoming the first U.S. player to score more than once in a World Cup match for some 96 years. Substitute Maurício did get los Guaraníes on the scoreboard, although Paraguay never threatened a genuine comeback. Nevertheless, fittingly, the United States had the last word, with substitute Gio Reyna curling home a gorgeous trivela to make it four on what proved to be the final kick of the night.

If you're a USMNT supporter, World Cup wins don't come around every day — let alone ones as emphatic as that. So, where does it rank among USA's victories on the global stage? Spoiler alert: very highly!

Complete list of the USMNT's World Cup wins

Friday night was only the USMNT's 10th World Cup victory, coming in their 38th match; they've also secured eight draws and endured 20 defeats. This demolition of Paraguay was the first time the U.S. men had ever scored 4+ in a World Cup match; they have twice won by a three-goal margin, but those both came at the inaugural edition of the tournament 96 years ago, beating both Belgium and, coincidentally, Paraguay again in Montevideo en route to the semi-finals, which remains their best-ever run.

Could Pochettino's team replicate that this summer? It wasn't just the fact the U.S. scored four against la Albirroja that has supporters buoyant; it is the fact that the team's performance was outstanding. In the first half, the Americans had seven shots, created four big chances and boasted a whopping 72 percent of possession. Christian Pulisic was electric, putting in surely his best international performance ever, before being replaced at half time by Sebastian Berhalter. This change led to fans fearing the worst, but Pulisic will seemingly be good to go against Australia in Seattle next Friday, confirming that his withdrawal was merely a precaution.

So no, this was not the biggest win in the USMNT's history. But while the American men have experienced World Cup highs before, all of them (from the quarterfinal run in 2002 to Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria in 2010) felt at least a little bit improbable. Friday night, by contrast, was shocking in the sense that it felt inevitable: For the first time in nearly a century — and quite possibly for the first time ever, given just how much international soccer has changed since that 1930 World Cup — this team completely outclassed a credible opponent on the sport's biggest stage.

So, as mentioned above, it is the Socceroos at Lumen Field up next, before a clash with Türkiye back in L.A. to round out the group stages. Before worrying about that next fixture in the Pacific Northwest, USMNT fans should firmly remain on cloud nine, basking in their team's biggest-ever margin of victory in a World Cup game. Whether or not it proves to be the USA's biggest men's World Cup win in terms of importance may be decided in the coming weeks, with hopes sky-high that this is just the start.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow