Own-Goal Luck

USMNT's Own-Goal Total Carries Deep World Cup Roots

The U.S. men's national team made history at the 2026 World Cup by becoming the first squad ever to open the scoring via an own goal in back-to-back matches—both the product of relentless American pressure rather than chance.

Against Paraguay on June 12, midfielder Damián Bobadilla turned the ball into his own net just seven minutes in, setting the tone for a 4-1 U.S. win. A week later against Australia, Folarin Balogun surged down the left and fired a dangerous cross into the box that Cameron Burgess could only deflect past his own goalkeeper, opening a 2-0 American victory built on heavy pressing and 75% possession.

The pair of own goals pushed the Americans' all-time World Cup total to five, placing them second behind only France in goals gifted by opponents' own players.

It's not the first time fortune has smiled on the U.S. in this fashion. At the 1994 World Cup on home soil, Colombian defender Andrés Escobar inadvertently redirected a U.S. cross into his own net, helping the Americans to a stunning 2-1 win over Colombia in Pasadena—a result that preceded the tragic murder of Escobar back in Medellín. Own goals have also factored into other landmark U.S. results, including the 2002 upset of Portugal, when a deflection off Jorge Costa contributed to an early 3-0 lead in a 3-2 victory, and the chaotic, three-red-card 2006 draw with Italy, leveled by a Cristian Zaccardo own goal.

Taken together, the pattern stretches back more than three decades, reinforcing a recurring thread in American World Cup history: aggressive, high-pressure soccer that has repeatedly forced opposing defenders into costly, self-inflicted mistakes at the game's biggest stage.