Picture : Folarin Balogun is the 2nd US player to score more than one goal in a single World Cup match.
World Cup 2026 Statistics – Day 2 (June 12)
Canada vs Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1 (Group B)
*Canada needed 7 matches to earn their first point in a World Cup, thanks to Cyle Larin who came off the bench to equalize and secure it.
Only one team in history of the World Cup have needed more matches to earn their first point: Mexico – 10 matches (1-1 vs Wales in 1958 after 9 defeats).
El Salvador have suffered 6 defeats and have yet to earn first point since their debut in 1970.
All these teams represent same confederation (CONCACAF).
*In the meantime, Canada have now joint-second most games (7 – 6 losses, 1 draw) at World Cups among teams that failed to win a single game so far, along with Egypt (2 draws, 5 losses).
Only Honduras are “ahead” with 9 games (3 draws, 6 losses).
The next are:
New Zealand – 6 (3 draws, 3 losses),
Bolivia – 6 (1 draw, 5 losses),
El Salvador – 6 (6 losses).
*CONCACAF teams have gone 12 consecutive matches without a win against European teams in World Cups.
Their last such victory was Mexico’s 1-0 in 2018 against the then-reigning world champions, Germany.
*Jesse Marsch became the first coach from the United States to manage a foreign country (Canada) in a World Cup.
*Jovo Lukić (Bosnia and Herzegovina) is the first player from a Romanian league club (Universitatea Cluj) to score in the history of the World Cup while representing a national team other than Romania.
*Before Lukić’s goal, the last Romanian league player to score in a World Cup was 32 years ago Ilie Dumitrescu, who netted a brace for Romania against Argentina on 3 July 1994, while playing for Steaua.
USA vs Paraguay 4-1 (Group D)
*United States scored 4 goals in a single match for the first time in their World Cup history.
*The only previous encounter between the USA and Paraguay in a World Cup was on 17 July 1930, in the first edition.
Now these nations took the longest in World Cup history to be played again: 96 years. Both games ended by large USA wins (3-0 in 1930).
*These are the only two USA wins in World Cups with +3 goal difference.
*Damián Bobadilla’s (Paraguay) own goal after 6 minutes 50 seconds became fourth earliest own goal in the entire history of the World Cup, behind:
Sead Kolašinac (Bosnia and Herzegovina) vs Argentina — 2 minutes 09 seconds (2014)
Carlos Gamarra (Paraguay) vs England — 2 minutes 46 seconds (2006)
Ivan Vutzov (Bulgaria) vs Portugal — 6 minutes 41 seconds (1966).
*Two of the three fastest goals Paraguay have conceded in a World Cup were own goals, including Carlos Gamarra’s own goal against England at 3 minutes in 2006.
The only “normal” goal of these three is Luis Flores’s one against Mexico at 3 minutes in 1986.
*USA have benefited from four own goals in the World Cup; only France (6) have benefited from more (Germany and Portugal also 4).
*For the first time in World Cup history, a CONCACAF team went into halftime with a 3-goal lead over a CONMEBOL team.
*Folarin Balogun is the 2nd US player to score more than one goal in a single World Cup match.
The first was Bert Patenaude who scored a hat-trick in above mentioned game against Paraguay in 1930.
*The clash between Mauricio Pochettino (USA) and Gustavo Alfaro (Paraguay) was the fourth time coaches from Argentina have faced each other in the World Cups, and second time when neither of them managing Argentina. The precedents:
2006: Ricardo La Volpe and José Pékerman (Mexico vs Argentina)
2018: Juan Antonio Pizzi and Héctor Cúper (Saudi Arabia vs Egypt)
2022: Lionel Scaloni and Gerardo Martino (Argentina vs Mexico)