Can Folarin Balogun Blast His Way to World Cup Golden Boot Glory with USMNT?

Nerves? Hesitation? Pre-game anxiety? None of that for Folarin Balogun, who came out with one thing on his mind: putting the ball in the back of the net.

The U.S. men's national team forward handled his World Cup debut—the biggest match of his career to this point—just as he's handled everything lately: with complete and total dominance. By the time he walked off the pitch at SoFi Stadium last week, Paraguay was left bewildered and the final score read 4–1. Balogun had accounted for half of the U.S.'s goals and nearly added a third, only to be denied by the narrowest of offside calls.

Balogun arrived at the summer in scorching form following his campaign with AS Monaco, recording 19 goals and five assists across 43 appearances in French Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, and the Champions League. A remarkable stretch this spring saw him find the net in 11 straight matches, cementing his status as one of Europe's most dangerous young forwards.

Still, the question lingered: would his prolific scoring carry over to soccer's grandest stage? The 24-year-old began quieting skeptics during the USMNT's pre-World Cup friendlies late last month, netting the decisive goal against Senegal, before silencing them entirely against Paraguay.

Now a new question emerges: could Balogun genuinely contend for the 2026 World Cup Golden Boot?

Sure, no USMNT player has ever claimed the award—given to the tournament's leading scorer—but no USMNT player had ever scored a brace in a World Cup opener either, until Balogun stepped onto the field. In fact, no USMNT player had scored more than one goal in any World Cup match since 1930, the inaugural edition of the tournament, a modest competition featuring just 13 teams divided into four groups. Nearly a century ago, 21-year-old Bert Patenaude netted a hat trick against, fittingly, Paraguay in a 3–0 win to reach the semifinals, where the U.S. were promptly dismantled by Argentina 6–1.

Clearly, history is there for Balogun to write.

Folarin Balogun Firmly in Golden Boot Race

Balogun's two goals currently place him in a tie with eight others for second in the Golden Boot standings, with only two players ahead of him: the incomparable Lionel Messi, who delivered a stunning hat-trick display in Argentina's opening win over Algeria on Tuesday, and Canada's Jonathan David, who burst onto the scene with a hat trick in his side's second group stage match, a 6–0 thrashing of Qatar on Thursday.

Among those who also scored braces in their nations' opening fixtures are some of the world's elite forwards, including three-time Premier League Golden Boot recipient Erling Haaland, who guided Norway to a 4–1 victory over Iraq on Tuesday—also in his World Cup debut. Kai Havertz, who steered Arsenal to their first Premier League title in over two decades this season, bagged two in Germany's 7–1 rout of minnows Curaçao. Harry Kane, the Bayern Munich striker and 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner, grabbed a brace in England's 4–2 triumph over Croatia; and Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappé—the 2022 Golden Boot recipient—scored twice in France's 3–1 defeat of Senegal.

Golden Boot Race

Safe to say Balogun is in distinguished company. He'll need the USMNT to advance deep into the tournament for a realistic shot at the Golden Boot—more games means more opportunities to score. Mbappé claimed the 2022 award with eight goals in total, including a hat trick in the final. Kane won it four years earlier with six goals, guiding England to the semifinals.

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Even if Balogun adds just a few more goals across the entire summer, it will be the stuff of legend. Former standout forward Landon Donovan, the joint all-time leading scorer for the U.S. (57 goals), holds the record for most World Cup goals by any USMNT player with five—accumulated across three tournaments (2002, 2006, 2010). Balogun could realistically surpass that total in his very first World Cup campaign.

"Balogun is the X factor for me. I mean, he got us two goals," Donovan's former teammate and USMNT legend goalkeeper Tim Howard told Sports Illustrated. "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."