Folarin Balogun is enjoying his most productive scoring season with AS Monaco, and Paris Saint-Germain became his latest victim. After netting a brace in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League clash against the Parisian side, the USMNT star broke a competition record previously held by Mexico legend Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez.
After both teams failed to finish among the top eight in the league phase, Monaco and PSG were drawn together, with the Monegasque side hosting Wednesday’s first leg. The match began smoothly for the home team, which found the opener before the first minute had elapsed.
After Nuno Mendes gave the ball away while attempting to build from the back, Monaco launched a lethal counterattack down the left, where Aleksander Golovin delivered a precise cross for Balogun to score a header just 55 seconds into the match.
In the 18th minute, Balogun laid the ball off to Maghnes Akliouche, who slipped a perfectly weighted through pass to send the USMNT striker one-on-one with goalkeeper Matvey Safonov. With a clinical finish inside the near post, he doubled the lead over the reigning European champions moments later.
Balogun writes CONCACAF history in Champions League
With his brace against PSG, Folarin Balogun became the fastest player from CONCACAF to score twice in a Champions League match. Although the game ultimately ended in a 3-2 defeat for Monaco, the two goals were enough for the USMNT forward to make history.
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The previous mark had been set more than a decade ago by Chicharito Hernandez while playing for Bayer Leverkusen. Hosting Matchday 3 of the group stage against AS Roma, the Mexican star converted a fourth-minute penalty and then struck again in the 19th minute after a pass from Hakan Calhanoglu in a thrilling 4-4 draw, with now Balogun outshining his record by just a minute.
With the brace, Balogun now has 10 goals and four assists in 30 appearances during the 2025-26 season. More notably, he has scored five times in nine Champions League matches. While still short of his most prolific European campaign (the 2022-23 season with Stade Reims, when he recorded 22 goals and three assists in 39 games) the striker appears determined to make further history in Europe with the 2026 World Cup on the horizon.
