Folarin Balogun picked the ideal time to break out of his slump.
The Monaco striker scored two goals within the first 18 minutes against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
With his double in the playoff round first leg, Balogun became the first U.S. men's national team player to score more than one goal in a Champions League knockout stage game.
Only one other USMNT player has scored more than a goal in any Champions League game: Malik Tillman, who pulled off the feat just last month with Bayer Leverkusen.
The two goals took Balogun's season total to 10, five of which have come in the Champions League.
With his fifth goal, Balogun also broke Christian Pulisic's USMNT record for goals in a single Champions League season.
Balogun came into Tuesday's game with just one goal in his past 12 games, but found the net less than a minute into Tuesday's game at Stade Louis II.
The 24-year-old found some space in the six-yard box, getting on the end of Aleksandr Golovin's cross to head home from close range.
AIR BALOGUN ✈️Folarin Balogun buries his header to give Monaco the perfect start against PSG🇺🇸pic.twitter.com/yojklteZm3
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo)February 17, 2026
Less than 20 minutes later, Balogun played a neat one-two with Maghnes Akliouche and buried a low finish past PSG goalkeeper Matvei Safonov.
FOLARIN BALOGUN AT THE DOUBLE 🇺🇸💥Less than twenty minutes in and the USMNT striker has the European champions stunned in Monaco 😤pic.twitter.com/eKJmu6APom
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo)February 17, 2026
PSG would quickly strike back after going two goals down, leveling the game by halftime through goals from Désiré Doué and Achraf Hakimi.
Doué would score again midway through the second half, taking advantage of Golovin's red card earlier to give PSG a 3-2 win and a major advantage heading home for next week's second leg.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Monaco star Folarin Balogun scores two goals vs. PSG in Champions League
