FIFA World Cup Day 3: Live updates, TV schedule, news, game results

It was a game eight years in the making. The first World Cup match on American soil in more than a generation and the start of a tournament that has the potential to alter the direction of soccer in this country for the next generation.

And the U.S. seized on every bit of that opportunity Friday, with Christian Pulisic setting up two goals and Folarin Balogun scoring twice in his World Cup debut, sparking an impressive 4-1 victory over Paraguay at a sold-out SoFi Stadium that was far more one-sided than the score indicated.

“This being in America, having this crowd around us, seeing the red, white, and blue, all the red-and-white striped shirts in the crowd, it’s awesome,” Pulisic said. “It’s really pushing us forward. We just hope it continues like that.”

The U.S., which needed a big effort to start the tournament, was on the front foot from the start, going in front to stay in the seventh minute — although it was Paraguayan midfielder Damián Bobadilla who got credit for the goal after stepping in front of Balogun and deflecting in a cross from Weston McKennie.