ARLINGTON, Texas — Christian Pulisic scored in the third minute and assisted Folarin Balogun’s goal in the 44th minute, and the United States defeated Bolivia 2-0 in their opening match of the Copa America on Sunday night.
Of the six countries invited to the South American Championship, the United States is expected to advance to the quarterfinals from Group C along with Uruguay.
Bolivia has lost 13 straight matches going back to 2015 and has just one win in their last 31 matches.
The United States, ranked 11th in the world, plays Panama on Thursday in Atlanta before finishing its group stage against Uruguay in Kansas City, Missouri, on July 1. Bolivia, ranked 84th in the world, plays Uruguay on Thursday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, then plays Panama on July 1 in Orlando, Florida.
The game, played under the retractable roof of AT&T Stadium (capacity 80,000), which would host the World Cup semifinals two years later, was attended by 47,873 fans, and was air-conditioned inside the stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, even though the temperature outside was 97 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius) at kickoff.
American goalkeeper Matt Turner, who played the day before his 30th birthday, made three saves for his 25th clean sheet in an international match.
The U.S. went 6-0 against AT&T to qualify for its fifth Copa America tournament, its first since reaching the semifinals as co-hosts in 2016.
The United States touched the ball in the attacking penalty area 18 times in the first half, while Bolivia did not touch it once.
Pulisic put the U.S. ahead 2 minutes and 23 seconds into the game, the fastest goal the U.S. has scored in 34 official matches against a South American team.
He awarded a short corner kick to Tim Weah, who ran towards the penalty area, where Weah played the ball back to Pulisic, who got a hold of it and curled a right-footed shot from just inside the area that took the ball off the outstretched fingertips of goalkeeper Guillermo Vizcarra and into the top corner for his 30th international goal.
Balogun received a pass from Pulisic, took a few touches and fired a low shot with his left foot that went past defender Jesus Sagredo and into the inside of Vizcarra’s goalpost for his fourth goal in 13 appearances and extended the lead to two goals.
Pulisic joined Clint Dempsey as the only U.S. players to record a goal and an assist in a Copa America match, and his 30 goals in 69 international appearances are the fewest by any American player.
Balogun again found the back of the net in the 53rd minute after receiving a pass from Weir, but Weir was whistled for offside after receiving the ball from Weston McKennie and the decision was confirmed by video review.
Midfielder Tyler Adams, who is recovering from a back injury, started for club or country for the first time since March 30 and played the first half.
Adams and Borogan were included in the starting line-up, replacing Yunus Musa and Ricardo Pepi, in two changes from the line-up that drew 1-1 with Brazil in a friendly against Brazil on 12 June, with Musa replacing Adams at the start of the second half and Pepi coming on in the 65th minute.
Vizcarra tipped Pepi’s shot over the crossbar in the 79th minute and then denied a shot from close range and a rebound in the 90th minute.
