Image source, Getty Images

Last night marked quite the moment for Folarin Balogun as he became just the second US player to score more than once in a World Cup match.

The 24-year-old was born in New York but moved to England when he was just one-month-old and came through the ranks at Arsenal's academy.

Promoted to the first team in 2020, Balogun found opportunities hard to come by with the Gunners.

And after making just two Premier League appearances, he was sent on loan to Middlesbrough and then Reims, where he finally broke through.

Balogun's 21-goal haul in Ligue 1 during the 2022-23 season earned him a £35m move to Monaco in the summer of 2023.

That same year, he also switched international allegiance to the US despite playing for England age group sides all the way through to under-21s, earning 13 caps at that level.

Balogun has carried his club form into the World Cup after finishing the 2025-26 season with nine goals in 13 league matches for Monaco and, with this display, showed he has the quality to lead the US attack in the tournament.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Canada substitute Cyle Larin made an instant impact as his goal rescued a point for the co-hosts as they began their 2026 World Cup campaign with a draw against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Southampton striker Larin had only been on the pitch for just over two minutes when he superbly spun away from Tarik Muharemovic and fired past Nikola Vasilj, aided by a slight deflection.

It was the first time Canada had avoided defeat in the World Cup finals, after they had been beaten in all three games in 1986 and then again in 2022.

Bosnia, who gained penalty shootout wins in the qualifying play-offs over Wales and then Italy to secure their place in North America, took a 21st-minute lead in Toronto.

Jovo Lukic grabbed his first goal for his country when he headed in after ex-Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac had flicked on Ivan Basic's corner.

Canada nearly equalised early in the second half as Richie Laryea's shot was going in, only for Kolasinac to produce an excellent clearance by diverting the ball on to the crossbar and away.

The hosts pushed for a leveller and had another good opportunity, only for Nikola Katic to clear off the line from Tani Oluwaseyi's goal-bound header.

But, in a thrilling end-to-end match, Canada got a deserved equaliser in the 78th minute for their first ever World Cup draw.

Read the report here.

Image source, Getty Images

The United States opened their World Cup campaign with an impressive 4-1 victory against Paraguay as former Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun struck twice to inspire the co-hosts to an assured start in Los Angeles.

Balogun became just the second US player to score more than once in a World Cup match, after Bert Patenaude - who netted the tournament's first-ever hat-trick in the inaugural 1930 edition, also against Paraguay.

It is also the US' joint-biggest win at a World Cup - matching the 3-0 victories against Paraguay and Belgium in 1930, when they finished third.

It took the home side just seven minutes to open the scoring in the Group D opener in front of their vocal supporters, courtesy of an own goal from Paraguay's Damian Bobadilla.

Christian Pulisic, however, was the architect, squeezing between two defenders with a quick burst of pace before feeding Weston McKennie, whose cutback was inadvertently turned into his own net by Bobadilla.

Monaco striker Balogun opened his account after latching on to a pass from Pulisic, before pulling the US further ahead, pouncing on a through ball from Malik Tillman and escaping a challenge from Sunderland defender Omar Alderete before curling past goalkeeper Orlando Gill to find the top corner.

Paraguay struck next against the run of play through Brazilian-born Mauricio, who was slipped in by former Brighton forward Julio Enciso and slotted past Matt Freese.

The US victory was capped off with the goal of the night from substitute Giovanni Reyna, who curled a 20-yard shot home with the outside of his right foot with the final kick of the game.

Read the report here.

Shaimaa Khalil
LA Correspondent at LA Coliseum Stadium Fan Festival

What a match this turned out to be! I must say I was the sceptic among the thousands of fans in the Fan Festival zone in LA.

“Do you really think they’re going to do well and score?” I asked one fan as he shouted "USA! ‘this is our destiny!"

The fans here had faith in the team – there’s been a lot of anticipation and a lot of pressure on Mauricio Pochettino and his squad, and the USA delivered a historical first victory.

The Los Angeles Times features a picture of the USA team celebrating in the Los Angeles Stadium under the headline "House swarming".

It adds that two-goal hero Folarin Balogun "leads a dominant US" as the host nation "seizes the moment" in their opening 4-1 win over Paraguay.

Image source, Los Angeles Times

We've now seen all three co-hosts in action over the past two days - but who goes furthest in the competition?

Here's a reminder of their results if you need a little inspiration:

Mexico 2-0 South Africa

Canada 1-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

USA 4-1 Paraguay

Image source, Getty Images

The 2026 World Cup is in full swing.

We've had 12 goals across four games and all three of the co-hosts have something on the board.

Canada came from behind to pick up their first ever point at a World Cup - drawing 1-1 with Bosnia-Herzegovina - and the USA ran wild with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Paraguay.

We'll be reacting to both of those results this morning before starting to look forward towards what is up next later today.