Football history has a strange way of repeating itself.
Back in 1994, the United States were hosting the World Cup for the first time. Few gave them much chance. Then Colombia’s Andres Escobar, one of the tournament’s most composed defenders, turned a cross into his own net and handed the hosts a victory they could scarcely have imagined.
It became a defining moment in USA football history, and heartbreakingly, the goal had contributed to Escobar’s death; he was shot dead outside a Medellin restaurant weeks later, a tragedy that cast a long shadow over that World Cup.
Thirty-two years on, the tournament is back in North America, and in the sixth minute against Paraguay in Los Angeles on Saturday morning, history reached back and tapped the present on the shoulder.
Driven by Weston McKennie and Christian Pulisic, an early American attack forced Damian Bobadilla to turn the ball into his own net. The 70,492-strong crowd, including Hollywood royalty in Tom Cruise and Leonardo DiCaprio, erupted.
It was also a statistical oddity: the two earliest goals the USA have ever scored as World Cup hosts are both own goals, both from South American defenders, 32 years apart. But that is where the 2026 story decisively parts ways with 1994.
The former, for all the romance of that tournament, were passengers in their own moment -- resilient and rode their luck. The own goal was their story because they did not have another to tell.
Their 2026 version, on the other hand, have a different narrative arc. The scale of this win becomes clear when their opponents are considered.
Paraguay did not arrive in Los Angeles as pushovers but with real pedigree, having taken points off Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay during qualifying. Yet, Mauricio Pochettino’s side made them look ordinary. Rather than retreating into a defensive shell after the opening gift, the hosts oozed in confidence and smelled blood. They piled on wave after wave of attacks.
Folarin Balogun was at the centre of it. After having an earlier effort ruled out for offside, the Monaco forward converted a Pulisic cross in the 30th minute before skipping past the Paraguayan defense to curl a beautiful second strike into the top corner on the cusp of halftime.
By the interval, the home side looked every bit a team ready to embrace the weight of expectation. Pulisic’s early withdrawal for injury precaution slightly reduced their direct threat, but their structure remained intact, eventually restricting their southern neighbours to only two shots on target.
Paraguay, however, finally offered a threat, with Julio Enciso setting up substitute Mauricio to pull one back in the 72nd minute. But any sense of momentum was quickly extinguished as Giovanni Reyna added the finishing touch in stoppage time, coming off the bench to pull off a flamboyant trivela finish into the far corner to seal a 4-1 drubbing.
In 1994, the USA needed fortune to announce themselves. This time, they delivered a definitive statement of intent. The difference is no longer fortune, but control.
