For the first time since July 4, 1994, the United States Men’s National Team returned to World Cup action on home soil as they took the field at Los Angeles Stadium, kicking off Group D action with a meeting against Paraguay.

Head Coach Mauricio Pochettino made one change from the lineup that suffered a 2-1 loss to Germany in their final World Cup tune-up on June 6.

After months of debate over who would get the start in goal, Pochettino decided to roll out Matt Freese in goal, as the New York City FC keeper became the first active Major League Soccer goalkeeper to start in a World Cup match for the United States. Tim Ream, Chris Richards, and Alex Freeman formed the backline with Antonee Robinson and Sergiño Dest out on the wing. Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie sat deep in the midfield behind the duo of Christian Pulisic and Malik Tillman, while Folarin Balogun served as the lone attacker up top.

Richards came up big in the sixth minute as he cleared a bouncing cross from the right flank before it could reach an open Antonio Sanbria in the center of the box.

Some spot-on passing led to disaster for Paraguay in the seventh minute. After advancing the ball past midfield, McKennie slotted the ball forward to Pulisic on the left.

The winger raced the ball forward with some flashy footwork. With the Paraguayan defense encroaching, Pulisic curled a pass into a pocket of space near McKennie, who got onto the ball. The Juventus man managed to slot the ball centrally to Balgoun, but instead rifled the pass into the path of Damián Bobadilla as the ball deflected off the defender's legs and ricocheted toward a wide-open goal and in as the United States took the early 1-0 lead.

The United States nearly found a second goal in the 17th minute when Balogun pushed the ball down the center of the pitch before attempting to slot a ball to Dest on the right flank. Despite it being a little off target, Dest got onto the ball and drove toward the goal line before attempting to slot it back to Balogun, but had the effort deflected out of play.

The crowd inside SoFi Stadium erupted in the 29th minute as a series of passes led to McKennie threading a ball forward into the path of Balogun, who drove to the goalline before clipping a tight-angled shot to the near side of the net that evaded the reach of Paraguay's goalkeeper and into the net. Excitement quickly dwindled as the automatic review deemed the U.S. offside in the buildup.

After having his earlier strike erased, Balogun made up for it in the 31st minute. It all began with Robinson curling a ball up the left flank that fell to the feet of Pulisic, who took a few touches forward before attempting a pass centrally.

Despite Pulisic's attempt deflecting off a Paraguayan defender, it still ricocheted into the path of an advancing Balogun, who one-timed the pass past the Paraguay goalkeeper and into the net to double the U.S. lead.

The U.S. dominance continued in first half stoppage time as a slow buildup led to Tillman sending a ball from midfield perfectly into the path of Balogun. After evading the tackle of Omar Aiderete, Balogun flashed the footwork again as he froze and maneuvered around Gustavo Gómez and found himself one-on-one with the Paraguay goalkeeper. Balogun wasted no time as he curled a shot to the upper-left corner to secure his second goal of the evening, as the United States headed into the halftime interval with a commanding 3-0 lead.

The first U.S. change of the evening came before the start of the second half as Sebastian Berhalter replaced Christian Pulisic.

Tim Ream became the first U.S. player to receive a yellow card following his controversial foul on Miguel Almirón. After a VAR check moments later, head referee Danny Makkelie overturned the yellow card on Ream as officials deemed Miguel Almirón simulated the contact, which led to Almirón receiving the yellow card instead.

The United States made a pair of changes in the 72nd minute, as Ricardo Pepi and Tim Weah replaced Balogun and Dest.

Paraguay was not going down without a fight, and it eventually paid off in the 73rd minute as Julio Enciso found the ball atop the box before slotting it forward to Mauricio on the left side of the box. He slotted it past a diving Matt Freese and into the net to draw one back for Paraguay.

A poor turnover from Paraguay nearly paid dividends for the U.S. in the 75th minute as Tillman intercepted a back pass yards outside the box and quickly slotted it to an open Pepi. Despite the acres of space, the striker unselfishly slotted it back to Tillman. The Paraguayan defense recovered just in time to force an early shot from Tillman that went straight to the hands of Orlando Gil.

Another U.S. substitution came in the 82nd minute as Gio Reyna replaced Malik Tillman. With the seconds ticking down in second-half stoppage time, the United States beefed up the goal differential as a series of passes led the ball to Reyna atop the box as he used the outside of his boot to curl a shot to the left side of the net and past the outstretched hands of Gill to seal a 4-1 victory as the USMNT jumpes to first place in Group D.

The United States will look to keep the momentum going when they travel to Seattle Stadium to face Australia on June 19 at 3:00 PM ET.