Leeds United star benched for five-goal World Cup thriller as Elland Road flop outstanding
The first opportunity for Leeds United representation at the World Cup came and went overnight.
Leeds United’s Brenden Aaronson was an unused substitute overnight as the USA kicked off their 2026 World Cup campaign with a 4-1 win over Paraguay.
The co-hosts enjoyed a near-perfect start to their home World Cup campaign, blowing away a poor Paraguayan outfit at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. A first-half brace from Monaco striker Folarin Balogun did most of the damage, coming between a Damian Bobadilla own-goal and Giovanni Reyna’s added-time effort.
Substitute Mauricio scored a consolation goal for Paraguay at 3-0 down but it proved nothing more, with the USA rewarded for an utterly dominant performance. But Aaronson was handed a watching brief by head coach Mauricio Pochettino as those ahead of him starred.
Two of Aaronson’s former Elland Road teammates did start, with Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie impressing in central midfield. The latter in particular caused early problems with his forward running and played a part in the opener, his attempted pass deflecting off defender Bobadilla and into the Paraguay net inside seven minutes.
That goal came down the USA left and it was from that area again that AC Milan’s Christian Pulisic crossed for Balogun to notch is first goal on 31 minutes. The striker then arrowed home a brilliant third in first-half added-time as the USA enjoyed a dream start to their home World Cup.
Pochettino swapped Pulisic out for Sebastian Berhalter at half-time before another two attacking changes around the 70-minute mark, but there was no call for Aaronson. Instead, Timothy Weah and Ricardo Pepi replaced Sergino Dest and Balogun. Reyna then replaced midfielder Malik Tillman before scoring his nation’s fourth in added-time.
The victory leaves the USA top of World Cup Group D, with Turkey and Australia due to face off tonight. Paraguay are rock-bottom and a heavy defeat leaves their hopes of progressing into the knockout stages in very early doubt.
Aaronson will have been disappointed not to feature on such a huge night for his country but another chance will come in seven days. The USA’s second group stage game is against Australia in Seattle on Friday June 19 before a meeting with Turkey back in Los Angeles a week later.