Downright un-American!

PETALING JAYA: For decades, the stereotype has been easy enough to understand. American teams ran hard, defended honestly and waited for opportunities to arrive. They were organised rather than inventive, industrious rather than elegant.

They could trouble stronger opponents, but rarely dictate the terms of engagement.

This team appears to have torn up that script.

If World Cup 2026 was supposed to showcase football’s traditional powers, the United States spent its opening night demanding a place in that conversation.

Not because it won. It was the manner of it.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side played with a swagger seldom associated with American football.

The ball moved at startling speed while passing triangles appeared and disappeared before Paraguay could react.

Players exchanged positions with an ease that suggested months of rehearsals rather than the opening match of a World Cup.

At times it resembled one of those viral training videos where a handful of professionals toy with dozens of schoolchildren, moving the ball wherever they pleased while everyone else chased shadows.

Paraguay were not merely beaten. They were bulldozed 4-1.

The most striking aspect was not the intensity, though there was plenty of that. Nor was it the technical quality, which repeatedly exposed Paraguay’s limitations.

It was the absence of fear.

Nutmegs were attempted. Flicks were encouraged. One-touch combinations appeared in crowded spaces. Attacks developed from instinct as much as instruction.

This was a team enjoying itself on the biggest stage in the sport. And perhaps that is Pochettino’s greatest achievement so far.

Previous American sides often approached World Cups as outsiders hoping to survive. This one looks determined to impose itself.

The statistics merely confirmed what the eye already knew. The United States repeatedly arrived inside Paraguay’s penalty area and kept returning. Every wave seemed to carry a different threat.

Christian Pulisic drifted through double teams. Malik Tillman appeared to occupy half the pitch by himself. Folarin Balogun punished every defensive mistake.

The connections were seamless. The movement was relentless. The football was compelling.

Of the eight teams seen so far in this tournament, none has made a stronger first impression.

That assessment comes with an obvious caveat.

Paraguay were dreadful.

Their qualification campaign already suggested a side that struggled for goals. They reached North America largely through resilience, organisation and the revival engineered by Gustavo Alfaro.

The famed garra guarani — the fierce fighting spirit Paraguay proudly embrace — never arrived in Los Angeles.

Defenders looked lost. Midfielders struggled to advance possession.

Even when trailing heavily, there was little sense of urgency.

At one point it seemed reasonable to wonder whether they understood the scale of the crisis unfolding around them.

Yet it would be unfair to dismiss this performance simply because the opposition failed to turn up.

Good teams beat weak opponents. Ambitious teams humiliate them. The United States chose the second option.

Even after Pulisic departed and some of the early fluency faded, there remained enough control to keep Paraguay at arm’s length.

A brief wobble never became a genuine threat. The final flourish, a beautifully crafted move involving 26 passes before Giovanni Reyna applied the finishing touch, felt less like a goal and more like a mission statement.

The Americans have topped a World Cup group before. They famously finished above England in 2010 through grit, determination and a dramatic late winner.

That team survived. This team wants to dominate.

One match proves nothing. Every World Cup produces opening-night mirages.

But while others have started cautiously, the co-hosts have delivered something far more valuable.

A reason to believe.

Canada’s maiden point

Canada’s point may matter more than it looks,

The temptation will be to dismiss Canada’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina as an opportunity missed.

That would miss the bigger picture.

For a nation that had previously lost every World Cup match it had ever played, avoiding defeat represented a psychological barrier being broken.

Jesse Marsch’s side spent much of the evening chasing the game, yet refused to chase it desperately.

The equaliser from substitute Cyle Larin may ultimately be remembered less for rescuing a point and more for preserving belief.

In a tournament where co-hosts inevitably carry expectation, Canada avoided the worst possible outcome: beginning with regret.

They remain alive, relevant and convinced they belong here.