Pulisic screamer earns USMNT comfortable win in Copa América opener

Christian Pulisic scored in the third minute and assisted Folarin Balogun’s goal in the 44th minute as the USMNT cruised past Bolivia 2-0 in their Copa América opener on Sunday night.

Against an overmatched, youthful Bolivian team, the US were comfortable winners. Ten of Bolivia’s starters went into the tournament’s opening match with ten caps or fewer, and an experienced American side wasted no time in showing the gap in quality.

“We came out with a lot of intensity. Obviously that early goal helped us a lot,” Pulisic said. “Overall a pretty dominant performance. I think we could have put it behind us and scored more goals there.”

Pulisic put the US ahead by two minutes, the fastest American goal in 34 competitive matches against South American opponents. He played a short corner to Timothy Weah before running towards the penalty area. Weah passed the ball back to Pulisic, who touched and from just inside the penalty area curled a right-foot shot off the outstretched fingertips of goalkeeper Guillermo Viscarra into the far top corner for his 30th international goal.

Balogun doubled the lead when he received a pass from Pulisic, took several touches and fired a low left-foot shot along the ground, past defender Jesús Sagredo and inside Viscarra’s far post for his fourth goal in 13 games for the national team.

Pulisic joined Clint Dempsey as the only American players with a goal and an assist in a Copa América match.

Balogun had the ball back in the net in the 53rd minute thanks to a neat through ball from Weah, but Weah was whistled for offside when he received the ball from Weston McKennie in the build-up, a decision that was upheld in a VAR review.

Midfielder Tyler Adams, returning to fitness after a back injury, played the first half in his first start for club or country since March 30. Adams and Balogun were included in the starting lineup in place of Yunus Musah and Ricardo Pepi in the two lineup changes for the USMNT’s final tune-up match against Brazil. Musah replaced Adams at the start of the second half and Pepi came on in the 65th.

Viscarra pushed Pepi’s shot over the crossbar in the 79th minute and then stopped Pepi in the 90th after a point-blank first attempt and another from the rebound.

The US had eighteen touches in the attacking penalty area in the first half, leaving Bolivia with zero. The chances continued to flow throughout the match, but the US could not extend their two-goal lead.

“It’s a big start for us. Build the confidence,” Antonee Robinson said after the game. “If we had been picky we could have been a lot more clinical. We could have put away another two or three goals.”

It was Bolivia’s thirteenth consecutive Copa América defeat since 2015, and they have now won just once in their last 31 matches.

A crowd of 47,873 people attended the match under the retractable roof at the 80,000-seat AT&T Stadium, which will host the World Cup semi-final in 2026.

The US will continue their campaign against Panama in Atlanta on Thursday before wrapping up the group stage against Uruguay on July 1 in Kansas City. Bolivia meets Uruguay in New Jersey on Thursday and then plays Panama in Florida on July 1.