Day Three: SoFi Shakes for the USA, and the Big Names Blink

Three matches, three very different moods. Day three of the World Cup belonged to the co-hosts — the United States tore into Paraguay and never let go — but it was also the day two of the tournament’s heavyweights discovered how unforgiving this group stage can be. Brazil were held. Switzerland had 26 shots and one point to show for them.

A quick word on the calendar, since it catches people out every year. The USA’s opener kicked off on a Friday night in California, but by the final whistle the clock had already rolled past midnight in UTC — which is why it sits on June 13 in the schedule, alongside the two evening games in the Bay Area and New Jersey.

USA 4–1 Paraguay: Balogun makes his statement

The United States had waited 32 years to host a World Cup again, and they needed roughly seven minutes to start the party. Christian Pulisic sliced Paraguay open down the left, the danger pinballed across the six-yard box, and Damián Bobadilla turned it into his own net. SoFi Stadium — 70,492 in, by the official count — duly shook.

It got better. On 31 minutes Pulisic teed up Folarin Balogun for a tidy finish, and in first-half stoppage time the Monaco striker curled a second into the top corner. The hosts went in 3-0 up at the break — the first time they have ever led a World Cup match by that margin at half-time, US Soccer noted. Balogun also became the first American to score twice in a World Cup game since Bert Patenaude in 1930 — and Patenaude, with some symmetry, managed his against Paraguay too.

“It was definitely a statement,” Balogun said afterwards. “Three goals in the first half, opening game — I felt like it was a real statement.”

The second half was game management with the handbrake off. Paraguay pulled one back on 73 through Maurício — the substitute who had replaced, of all people, Bobadilla at half-time — before Giovanni Reyna restored the four-goal cushion deep into stoppage time. Mauricio Pochettino’s side finished with 65% of the ball, 16 shots to nine, and a Paraguay side reduced to fouling: five bookings to the USA’s one. “In the first 45 minutes, we were amazing,” Pochettino told DAZN. “So happy and so proud.” It was the most goals the USA have scored in a World Cup match, and their biggest home-tournament opener — exactly the statement they’d promised.

Qatar 1–1 Switzerland: 26 shots, one point

If the USA’s night was about ruthlessness, Switzerland’s was a cautionary tale about the absence of it. Murat Yakin’s team, fancied by plenty as dark horses, did everything but score the second goal that would have buried Qatar — and were punished in the cruellest way.

Breel Embolo, who had reportedly been stopped from boarding Switzerland’s flight to the States over a visa snag before being cleared to travel, put the favourites ahead from the spot on 17 minutes, after goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada bundled over Remo Freuler and was booked for it. From there it became target practice: Switzerland racked up 26 shots and an expected-goals tally of 3.24, against Qatar’s seven attempts and 0.76. Per Opta, those 26 shots are the most by any side in a World Cup match since at least 1966 — and the most ever by a team that didn’t win.

The bill came due in the 94th minute. Homam Ahmed hung a cross to the back post, captain Boualem Khoukhi rose with substitute Miro Muheim, and the ball dropped in off the Swiss defender — recorded as a Muheim own goal, and roared in by Qatar as the equaliser that delivered the nation’s first point in World Cup history. As 2022 hosts, Qatar had lost all three games and become the first host to finish a tournament pointless; here, under Julen Lopetegui in his first match in charge at a World Cup, they finally broke that duck.

“Every draw feels like a loss,” said Granit Xhaka. Yakin was blunter still: “We created very good chances, but… we lost two points.” Lopetegui’s read was naturally sunnier: “I was very proud — our mentality, the discipline. We were a little bit lucky sometimes, but you need to believe.”

Brazil 1–1 Morocco: Ancelotti’s bow, Morocco’s marker

The nightcap at MetLife Stadium — the ground that will stage July’s final — reminded Carlo Ancelotti that coaching Brazil carries its own kind of weight. The most decorated manager in club football was taking his World Cup bow as Brazil’s first foreign boss, and for half an hour his side were second best.

Morocco, semi-finalists in 2022 and frightened of no one, struck first on 21 minutes: Brahim Díaz threaded a pass through the middle and Ismael Saibari dinked it over the onrushing Alisson. It was Morocco’s first goal — and first point — against South American opposition at a World Cup, after 0-3 defeats to Peru in 1970 and Brazil in 1998. Brazil’s reply was pure stardust. Vinícius Júnior swapped passes with Bruno Guimarães and drove a right-footed finish past Yassine Bounou on 32 minutes, logged by FIFA as his 10th international goal.

That Brazil leaned on Alisson is the giveaway. The keeper produced a stunning late double save — denying El Aynaoui, then clawing away the follow-up — to keep things level, a moment Opta flagged as the point-preserver. Ancelotti, plainly unimpressed, had already withdrawn both Casemiro and Roger Ibañez at the interval; the pair were booked inside the opening 43 minutes. With Neymar omitted entirely as he recovers from a calf injury, this was a Brazil still hunting for its shape. Honours ended even — 1.28 expected goals to 1.24, a contest every bit as tight as the scoreline suggests. Morocco will feel they belonged. Brazil, unbeaten now in 21 straight World Cup openers, will simply be relieved the run survived.

The groups, after Day Three

One round in, Group B is a four-way logjam: Canada, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Qatar and Switzerland are all level on a single point after two 1-1 draws — which means Switzerland’s afternoon of spurned chances could yet prove costly. In the 48-team format, where the top two and the eight best third-placed teams progress, a slow start needn’t be fatal — but the margins, as our group-stage explainer spells out, tighten quickly.

Group C is a neat share at the summit, Brazil and Morocco a point apiece with Scotland and Haiti still to open their accounts. Group D already has a runaway leader: the USA top it on three points and a +3 goal difference, Paraguay sit bottom, and Australia and Türkiye have yet to kick a ball.

What’s next

Matchday one isn’t finished. Australia and Türkiye round out Group D, and Haiti meet Scotland in Group C, before the tournament pushes into fresh territory — Germany, the Netherlands and Ivory Coast all begin their campaigns next as Groups E and F get going. Full fixtures sit on the schedule, the tables update live on the groups page, and every goal is tracked in real time at whatsthescore.football.

Sources

USA 4–1 Paraguay

Qatar 1–1 Switzerland

Brazil 1–1 Morocco