In the final second of stoppage time against Paraguay, U.S. men’s national team midfielder Gio Reyna dazzled with a trivela goal, earning a 4–1 blowout win for the co-host’s 2026 World Cup opening match.
The technical mastery with which Reyna curved the ball was a sight to behold, using the outside of his right foot to slink past the desperate fingertips of Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill. Yet, for former USMNT legend and three-time World Cup goalkeeper (2006, 2010, 2014) Tim Howard, Reyna’s silky moves wasn’t what was most significant about the moment.
“There was a togetherness that I saw, and that for me was important,” Howards tells Sports Illustrated. “It was the way [manager Mauricio] Pochettino and the team ran down the field and celebrated. That showed me that there was a spirit among the group.”
After Reyna’s goal, the entire team—including those on the bench, clad in their heavy, dark-yellow bibs, and even Pochettino himself—barreled to the corner flag to celebrate together, jumping up and down and embracing one another. It presented a snap-shot of a team with genuine chemistry and reverence for the man in charge, despite Pochettino’s Argentinian heritage and less than two-year span at the helm of the Stars and Stripes.
“I give Pochettino so much credit because he had only had 18 months to build an identity, and that’s hard to do,” Howard says. “... [An identity] was the one thing we hadn’t seen in abundance with this group ... with this current group because they didn’t have to go through World Cup qualifying like the rest. This is what we’re seeing now, and that’s the sort of thing I’m looking for in the Australia game.”
It is precisely the USMNT’s newfound camaraderie—that togetherness Howard mentions—that has molded the team’s identity in action. The U.S.’s play is characterized by grit and passion, most definitely; however, more importantly, its identity is its systematic unity. Against Paraguay, the players looked as if they were of one mind, interweaving on the grass with fluidity. Their attacking build-ups were calculated and seamless. After all, it was a 26-consecutive pass buildup that resulted in Reyna’s dramatic finish.
For Howard, that togetherness will take the USMNT deep into the knockout stages of the tournament this summer and, firstly, will be what secures a critical group stage win against Australia on Friday in Seattle.
“Australia is going to be formidable. They’re going to be tough, and there’s an edge and grit to that game, which we like,” he says. “Ultimately, the U.S. is a better footballing team. We showed that against Paraguay. I think we will have really great moments against Australia ... I still stand by the fact that this team is going to win three group games. They beat Paraguay. They’re going to beat Australia, and I think they’ll beat Türkiye. That’s my predictions.”
Tim Howards Predicts USMNT’s World Cup Finish
The Stars and Stripes’ newfound identity should have them firing on all cylinders for the foreseeable future, with Howard predicting a deep run to the quarterfinal stage.
“If they win all three group games and finish first in the group, their path to the quarterfinals becomes extremely easier,” Howard says. “There’s nothing easy about it, but their path can be much harder if it doesn’t go that way. If the group sets them off on a good path, I truly do think they can get to a quarterfinal.”
The USMNT has only ever advanced to the quarterfinals once in the modern era of the tournament, a miracle run in Japan and Korea back in 2002; however, the team won’t be concerned with history. After all, it already rewrote some of it last week, scoring four goals for the first time ever in a World Cup match.
The Americans also have the support of the home crowd on their side, electrifying not only the stadiums, but even their lives off the pitch.
“People can discount how much being off the field helps them,” Howard says. “They’re in their home country. They’re out in the streets. They go have dinner with their families, and people are there congratulating them, telling them ‘good job’ and that they are looking forward to the next game. You are sort of running this high all week long, and then that goes into the game, of course. The game and the electricity takes care of itself. I do think they will feel this throughout the tournament.”
Oh, and then there’s Folarin Balogun. The 24-year-old striker is quickly becoming a breakout star of the tournament, scoring a brace last week, nearly a hat-trick before he saw the offside flag.
“Folarin Balogun is the X factor for me. I mean, he got us two goals,” Howard says. “If he can get another two goals in the group stage, he puts himself in another stratosphere, really. I’ve talked about him being a catalyst for this group. This group hasn’t had an out-and-out goalscorer. They sort of shared the goals around, but if Balogun can be that guy, then I think we will have a lot of success.”
In a game of pure domination, there wasn’t much to shake one’s head at. The only thing Howard could point to was the momentary lapse in concentration that led to Paraguay’s lone goal of the night. Mauricio found the net practically out of nowhere just one minute after Pochettino made a couple of substitutions.
“What you’d like to see is when Pochettino makes changes, the team finds a rhythm much quicker because you don’t want to give away those moments,” Howard says. “It happens fast at this level, so after changes happen, being able to switch quickly [is important].”
The USMNT kicks off against Australia at 3:00 p.m. ET / 12:00 p.m. PT on Friday at Lumen Field, seeking to top the Group D podium.
Tim Howard spoke to Sports Illustrated as part of a campaign with Jim Beam, the official spirits partner of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
