Argentina beaten by Paraguay on their South American Games debut | OneFootball

Argentina’s Under-19 National Team got off to a losing start at the Santa Fe 2026 South American Games. Diego Placente’s side fell 2-1 to Paraguay at Rosario’s Marcelo Bielsa Stadium in the opening matchday of Group B.

La Albiceleste started the match better and managed to take the lead near the end of the first half. Franco Domínguez, an Estudiantes player, stepped up to make it 1-0 and give Argentina the advantage going into the break.

However, Paraguay responded in the second half and managed to turn the score around within a few minutes. Junior Gamarra leveled the match and, shortly after, Pedro Zarza scored Paraguay’s second goal to seal the final 2-1.

Argentina tried to respond in the closing stretch, but could not find a way back to an equalizer and ended up opening the tournament with a defeat. Placente’s team must now recover quickly, as their next match will be this Saturday against Uruguay, once again at Marcelo Bielsa Stadium.

The national team is in Group B alongside Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The top two teams in the group will advance to the tournament semifinals. Argentina will close out the group stage on Monday, September 21, against Venezuela.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.