The first home World Cup match in 32 years — and nothing is settled.

Why it matters the stakes

• Thirty-two years of waiting end tonight — and the USMNT arrives on a four-game losing streak.
  • The moment: The US hasn't played a home World Cup match since June 18, 1994. Tonight at SoFi, with 70,000 fans and a country watching, is the most anticipated USMNT kickoff in a generation.
  • The math: Group D — USA, Paraguay, Australia, Turkey. Win tonight and the path to the Round of 32 opens cleanly. Drop points in Match 1 and every scenario gets harder against tougher opponents later.
  • Yes, but: Four straight losses (Turkey 1-2, Germany 1-2, Portugal 0-2, Belgium 2-5) is an uncomfortable preamble. The results mattered less than what they revealed about the defense.
• The fix for the Belgium defensive meltdown is starting tonight on a torn ankle ligament he hasn't played on in a month.
  • The wound: Belgium put five past the USMNT, with three goals in 15 second-half minutes. CBS Sports' panel and multiple analysts cited Chris Richards' absence as the structural gap in a 4-back that had no answers without him.
  • The risk: Richards tore two ankle ligaments at Crystal Palace in May. He declared himself fit. Pochettino named him starter. If his ankle gives out mid-match, the patch on this team's most vulnerable part fails on prime-time home soil.

• Paraguay returns to the World Cup after a 16-year exile — and their most important player may be too hurt to start.
  • The exile: Paraguay missed three consecutive World Cups (2014, 2018, 2022). Alfaro took over a failing CONMEBOL campaign and delivered — they qualified 6th, earning heroic draws at altitude in Bolivia. Tonight is the payoff of years of rebuilding.
  • The fear: Julio Enciso — 22, Strasbourg, 12 goals this season, Paraguay's creative hub — was stretchered off in tears on June 5 with rib and pelvis trauma in a pre-tournament friendly. His status for tonight is uncertain. Without him, Alfaro's attacking plan is fundamentally different.

By the numbers

The matchup

• USA's high-press hybrid system vs. Alfaro's compact, counter-oriented Paraguayan block — pressing energy against organized discipline.
  • USA shape: Hybrid 3-back in possession (3-2-5 build-up), drops to 4-4-2 out of possession. Man-oriented press designed to trigger turnovers high up the pitch.
  • Paraguay shape: Compact 4-2-3-1 / 4-4-2 under Alfaro — hard to break down, dangerous in transition. Lost only once away from home across qualifying (Brazil). Their structure doesn't require Enciso to remain organized.
• Key absences: Julio Enciso (PAR) — doubtful, rib/pelvis trauma June 5, no confirmed return. Chris Richards (USA) — starting, but two torn ankle ligaments, no competitive minutes since mid-May.
• Card jeopardy: Match 1 — no accumulated yellows across the group. No suspension risk tonight.

Watch for

The call

• Enciso's uncertain status removes Paraguay's most dangerous weapon. Without him, their attack loses the incisive movement that made them genuinely threatening in qualifying — Alfaro's side becomes organized and hard to break down, but limited to counters rather than generating sustained pressure.
• The USMNT beat Paraguay 2-1 in a November 2025 friendly. On the biggest stage imaginable, with 70,000 at SoFi and a country behind them, the USMNT's technical quality in the final third carries a decisive edge over a Paraguay side missing its creator.
• Pulisic at World Cups is a different animal. He was involved in all three USA goals at Qatar 2022, in a weaker environment. Tonight he has Balogun, McKennie, home crowd electricity, and a point to prove after four losses.
• The only result-flipping risk is Richards' ankle. If he deteriorates in the second half, Paraguay's Almirón — exactly the kind of technical, in-behind runner who hurt the USMNT in March — finds space in a suddenly disorganized back line.

Match-day weather