Paraguay’s World Cup Review: From Humiliation To A Historic Win | OneFootball

By Louis Smith.

Paraguay’s return to the World Cup for the first time in 16 years was very positive for them, and their people were very proud of their nation.

They praised manager Gustavo Alfaro following the tournament for his highly organised defensive structure, which made Paraguay very hard to beat. It was the classic Paraguayan grit, packing the box aggressively and forcing turnovers with pressing in their own half.

It was a method that stunned the Germans, as well as frustrating the French, and it was very much a positive campaign for Paraguay, who, whenever they reach the world stage, seem to put up a fight of some sort.

It began with a terrible start as they were battered by the United States, the hosts, in a 4-1 thrashing in Los Angeles, where it’s simple to say Paraguay were second best throughout.

It was pretty much a chalk-and-cheese performance. The Americans spread wide, and that was too much for the Paraguayan full-backs. They didn’t defend as well as was expected of the Paraguayan side.

Paraguay tried to attack, and it didn’t work. One of the main things is that the manager looked at this and, from then on, made sure that Paraguay got out of the group.

They bounced back with a 1-0 victory over Turkey thanks to a goal in the opening moments of the game from Matías Galarza. Then what followed was another gritty defensive display, which was made harder when Miguel Almirón created history by becoming the first player to be sent off for covering his mouth.

Then came another textbook Paraguayan defensive display, where they didn’t even look to attack much in a 0-0 draw with Australia.

Paraguay held firm and knew that a draw would be enough to see them through to the knockout stages, and it worked, even though Australia had the better of the attacking chances. Paraguay didn’t care; they knew their job, and they knew if they didn’t concede, they would be in the knockout stages, which was their aim at the start of the tournament.

Then what happened next was a historic occasion for the people of Paraguay as they enjoyed a victory over Germany, a 4-3 win on penalty shootouts.

In one of the shocks of the tournament, Julio Enciso, the bright spark of the Paraguayan side, opened the scoring with a lovely header after Germany had been on top, creating chances but not really threatening too much.

Germany equalised in the second half through Kai Havertz, but then a wonderful performance from Orlando Gill, who hardly played any time during the CONMEBOL qualifiers, saw them take the match to a penalty shootout.

Paraguay had the opportunity to create history, and José Canale stepped up and made sure they did, sending the whole country into madness.

This set up a tie with France, a step up in quality from the Germans, and the 2018 winners and 2022 runners-up.

It was a physically high, feisty encounter in Philadelphia. Paraguay’s game plan was to sit back, press, frustrate the French, wind them up, and annoy them.

It worked to a T until the 70th minute when Désiré Doué was brought down, and France were awarded a penalty, which Kylian Mbappé converted to break Paraguayan hearts and progress through to the final.

However, Paraguay could be very proud of how the tournament went. They kept one of the best sides in the world to just one goal and frustrated them, which led to a lot of media criticism. But Paraguay don’t care about that. They’re a small nation and a very proud one. They’re known for being warriors, and they played with a warrior mentality, fighting for each other throughout.

What next for La Albirroja

Paraguay have transitioned from a team that struggled to qualify and compete in CONMEBOL competitions since qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, where an ageing squad was massively in transition.

Their youth sides in recent years have been successful in South America and they already have young talents like Julio Enciso, Matías Galarza, and Juan Cáceres, all of whom have already performed on the world stage and will now be hoping to be the focal point in driving the next generation towards the 2030 World Cup, in which Paraguay will play a part as a host nation by hosting one of the matches during the centenary celebrations of the FIFA World Cup.