World Cup Day 3: The Best We've Ever Been
I'm twelve hours on from USA 4, Paraguay 1 and while some of it might be lack of sleep or too much caffeine, my buzz is strong. The soccer team I have cared more about than any other in the history of my soccer experience—and the very reason I work in the game at all—delivered the best American men's performance at a World Cup since teams traveled by steamship and the game happened in black-and-white.
You've seen the stats and the tactical breakdowns. Some of my friends in soccer delivered bangers of posts and stories in the immediate aftermath of the events at the American World Cup curtain-raiser in Los Angeles. Fans across the country are right now trying to get a grip on how to feel about a performance only a few overly optimistic types even dreamed about. Those of us who ate shit after the Couva disaster in 2017 and lived through the effort to shine up plucky draws in World Cups before and after can hardly make sense of what we just witnessed.
Plenty of people—every single one of them one person too many—are working extremely hard to diminish the story of those 97 minutes.
To call this "uncharted territory" for the men's national team program would still come up short of conveying just how unprecedented a 4-goal outburst and a comprehensive 3-goal victory over any team in World Cup is for a country with a grand total of 10 World Cup wins, three of which game back in the aforementioned pre-modern history of the tournament.
We get to enjoy this. We are allowed, as soccer fans, as sports fans, and as Americans, to revel in what Mauricio Pochettino's team did to a very competent South American side in Los Angeles last night. We don't need to conjure qualifiers or undercut the performance by zooming too far in on Paraguayan mistakes, American luck, or any other event in a game with literally thousands and we certainly don't need to imagine future failure to prove some unimportant rationality—to ourselves or to our perceived soccer fan betters.
The USMNT fan capacity to futurecast disaster is surpassed in scope only by a capacity to spoil his own fun.
No, nothing is achieved. Three points might be enough to get the USMNT in the knockouts, but if the next two games end in defeat, the goal difference won't be good and the tournament might be over. Beating Paraguay does not promise anything against Australia or Turkiye, nor does it mean the Americans are ready to take down a nation with real pedigree if (or when) they reach the knockout phase.
But right now, I don't care about any of that. Last night's shift on SiriusXM, working with a nominal neutral/interested party in Luis Miguel Echegaray and a man who helped lay the groundwork for future generations of USMNT players in Eric Wynalda was one of the best broadcasting experiences of my career. The visceral reaction from fans long desperate for a moment to enshrine in the annals of our men's soccer history, many of them calling from their cars after watching the victory life in Los Angeles, is exactly why I love what I do.
No apologies are needed. There are forty-something nations participating in this tournament, and hundreds more around the world who failed in their quest to get here, who would trade everything for just one game like that. Like Canada, to name just one completely random example...
And yeah, it's okay to dream a little, too. Let's go beat Australia.
A few more thoughts on an incredible night:
I'm not overly concerned by Pulisic's "issue"
It's certainly not ideal that the USMNT's most important attacking player left the game at halftime as a precaution, but with a three-goal lead and likely increase in Paraguayan aggression (something Gio Reyna learned about later), the decision sounds more like exactly that (a precaution) and not a reason for serious concern.
Pulisic was spectacular for those 45 minutes and help set the US up to book a place in the knockouts as early as next Friday. I trust Pochettino and the US training staff to have Pulisic ready for that match in Seattle.
Malik Tillman is Poch's greatest tactical success so far (read: one game in)
Pochettino's management of his personnel was nearly perfect against Paraguay, and it's Tillman that stands out for me as the masterstroke. I'm not sure anyone saw the Leverkusen man as the answer in a midfield group that also included Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie, but as discusses in other places, McKennie's runs and Tillman's position and passing underneath him completely undid Paraguay. I've mostly been left cold by Tillman in a US shirt, but the mark of a good coach is the ability to put talented players (which Tillman undeniably is) in the best position to succeed. Pochettino did exactly that with Tillman.
Balogun is the best center forward we've ever had at a World Cup.
This is no knock on Brian McBride, Jozy Altidore (who never really got his chance to make a mark on the tournament), or any other number nine who led the line for the US in the big tournament, it's simply a recognition that Balogun is at a different level. He has a long way to go to reach legend status, but it's tough to do much better than being the first American at the World Cup since Bert Pataunade in 1930 to score multiple time in a game.
I love being right (which doesn't always happen.
I'm just going to leave this here.
FEELING REALLY GOOD ABOUT CALLING GIO REYNA THE AMERICAN RICARDO QUARESMA RIGHT ABOUT NOW
— Jason Davis (@davisjason.bsky.social) June 12, 2026 at 11:08 PM
Congrats on the impending little one, Gio.
PROGRAMMING NOTES
I'm back on the radio tonight from 6-9 ET with Wynalda, a shift that coincides with the kickoff of Brazil v. Morocco. That's the first marquee match of the tournament and I'm excited to get glimpse at Carlo Ancelotti's take on the Seleção.
Eric and I will also be talking about the US win, as well as reacting to Qatar v. Switzerland and previewing the two night games, Haiti v. Scotland and Australia v. Turkiye.
That last game is going to the first serious test of my commitment to watching every game of the tournament. A midnight kickoff? In the US group?
Tomorrow's newsletter might be a little punchy.
See you then.
