World Cup

USA vs Paraguay World Cup 2026 prediction

Hosts USA kick off their co-World Cup on day 2 when they face Paraguay at SoFi Stadium in California.

Mauricio Pochettino’s side have mostly had friendlies to play over the past two years with no qualifying campaign, but it’s worth noting that they weren’t anything special in last summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup when they lost to Mexico in the final that was hosted in Houston, Texas.

USA do have arguably the most talented squad they’ve ever had at a World Cup, at least since I’ve been following football. Yes, football.

Former Arsenal, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace and Lyon backup goalkeeper is now with New England Revolution in the MLS. Former FC Barcelona and Ajax attacking right-back is at PSV Eindhoven and has the potential to be a good fantasy football pickup depending on his value. Antonee Robinson of Fulham down the other flank is another good attacking full-back. 38-year-old centre-back Tim Ream has never been blessed with pace so his know-how and experience will be key to USA defensively.

Bournemouth’s Tyler Adams and Juventus’ Weston McKennie are the ball winners in midfield, whilst AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic, Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Gio Reyna, and Bayer 04 Leverkusen’s Malik Tillman will be attacking options from midfield. They are supporting AS Monaco’s Folarin Balogun as the star striker. Although you can’t overlook PSV’s Ricardo Pepi.

It’s an exciting USA squad and one that I believe will get off to a winning start.

Paraguay are always an interesting side. Rarely have any big names (since Jose Luis Chilavert retired at least), but always seem to play in close games. They were the 6th and final spot in the CONMEBOL qualifying section, but it’s worth noting they were eight points clear of Bolivia in eighth. Six of their seven wins did come at home though, taking just eight of their 28 points on the road. Of the South American sides that qualified, Paraguay were the joint-lowest scorers with Ecuador on 14 goals from 18 games, but the joint-second best defensive record having conceded just 10.

The South American side have 7 players currently playing their domestic football in Brazil, as well as Brighton & Hove Albion’s Diego Gómez, Sunderland’s Omar Alderete, former Newcastle Untied midfielder Miguel Almirón, and Strasbourg’s Julio Enciso up front.

Whilst it’s far from a cert, I think USA get off to a winning start on Friday.

Best bet: USA to win is 7/10 with Bet365