After all the talking, all the tournament’s controversies, all the expectations, the U.S. men’s national team began its home tournament with possibly the best half of soccer in its World Cup history, seizing a 3-0 lead over Paraguay that it converted into a 4-1 win.The star man was Monaco’s Folarin Balogun, with two goals, before Gio Reyna — almost sent home from Qatar four years ago over disciplinary issues — scored the goal of the tournament thus far.One concern, however, and a big one: Star winger Christian Pulisic was withdrawn at half-time as a precaution after feeling tightness in his calf. He had looked electric in the first 45 minutes. Now, a nation holds its breath.Elsewhere, co-hosts Canada rescued a deserved late draw amid an electric atmosphere in Toronto, securing its first-ever World Cup points.And the day began with significant news for Ghana, with The Athletic revealing that starting midfielder Thomas Partey was denied entry to Canada due to ongoing rape and sexual assault charges that the former Arsenal midfielder is facing in the UK; he denies all the charges. This means he will not be allowed to feature against Panama on June 17.The Athletic will provide daily recaps of the World Cup’s biggest talking points throughout the tournament. This is what happened on Matchday 2.How far can this U.S. side go in its home World Cup?Job done — and in style. Four goals, the most ever scored by the USMNT in World Cup history, and a first-half performance that will go down as its best-ever 45 minutes in a major tournament.What a time to do it, amid the drama of the build-up. The question is no longer whether this side can compete at its home World Cup; it has shifted quickly to how far it can go.Mauricio Pochettino will be able to put a cross in virtually every box on his checklist after that performance — Pulisic’s fitness pending.Pochettino’s striker, Balogun, appears in top form, with an especially clinical weaker-foot finish for his second. The U.S. midfield ran the game, particularly through Malik Tillman’s uber-intensity. And Pochettino’s defence, until Mauricio’s 73rd-minute consolation, was largely untroubled; that goal was Paraguay’s only shot on target.Pochettino’s one concern will be the fitness of Pulisic, who looked sharp before being withdrawn as a precaution at half-time with a calf complaint. The USMNT won easily without its star player carrying the load, but against teams better than a poor Paraguay, his intelligence, energy and skill will be required.“I don’t think it’s anything,” the winger told reporters after the match, likely crossing his fingers.So, with a coach with real knockout pedigree and a squad with strength at every level, just how far can this side go? The Athletic’s live projections give the USMNT a 97 per cent chance of advancing to the knockouts, with a 59 per cent chance of winning its group.Should the USMNT do that, it will face the runner-up from one of Groups B, E, F, I and J (potentially teams such as Canada, Ecuador, Japan, Senegal and Austria). The latter three are especially tricky opponents, but the USMNT sits higher than all five in the world rankings.If it finishes second in its group (a 31 per cent chance), the runner-up of Group G will be next, which has a high likelihood of being Iran. Though this might arguably be an easier fixture in the round of 32, this pathway would lead to more difficult matches from the round of 16 on.Still, all that excitement has us getting ahead of ourselves. The USMNT next plays Australia in Seattle on Friday.Have fans worked out how to beat FIFA’s pricing system?“No one can see a bubble,” Ryan Gosling’s character, Jared Vennett, says in the 2015 film “The Big Short.” “That’s what makes it a bubble.”In the build-up to this tournament, FIFA’s pricing strategy has been under fire. It is the most expensive World Cup in history, with the governing body’s dynamic pricing model meaning many tickets in equivalent areas have more than doubled in price from four years ago.With swaths of empty seats Thursday night during the tournament’s second game in Guadalajara, fans appeared to show their discontent with their feet.But with dynamic pricing, what goes up can also go down, and several wily USMNT fans have proved Vennett’s quote is not quite true.The Athletic’s Henry Bushnell has been covering FIFA’s ticketing issues for months, spending much of his Friday wandering around SoFi Stadium’s concourse, canvassing fans. Several of them let him onto their secret.One father and son explained how they bought premium, 200-level tickets on Gametime for $1,300 each, and while that might sound dear, that purchase was made at less than half of FIFA’s original price.