Featuring in Group D alongside USA, Australia and Türkiye

Undoubtedly, Paraguay will have their work cut out to get out of what is a very tough group. Will their defensive ideals stymie the hosts, and the creative threat of Türkiye? Or will their “keep it tight” philosophy backfire on them at the 2026 World Cup? 

Wins against Brazil and Argentina in qualifying suggest that maybe they’re worth keeping an eye on.

Let’s dig into it.

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Fact pack compiled by The Tournament Scout

World Ranking: 

40th (as of May 2026)

Play style: 

Hard-to-beat. Expect Paraguay to limit their opposition by denying them space. Expect a low block designed to force the opposition towards increasing levels of creative desperation. But their slightly old-school two narrow banks of four and counter-attacking style is tried and tested, so if they can keep it tight there may be an upset - or at least vast amounts of frustration - on the cards. 

But Paraguay could be a trap that Group D is about to step on. If the opposition gets too cocky, they’ll exploit the space left behind.

Players like Miguel Almirón will act as a speedy outlet and can quickly get up the pitch. There will be limited messing around or sideways passes - expect the intent to be to close the distance between ball carrier and goal as quickly as possible, either through directly running at it or playing it aerially to Antonio Sanabria. They’re creatively a bit limited, but it only takes one mistake to snatch a goal and then lock the back door. Knock-out football sometimes rewards that.

Expected formation: 

4-4-2. Sometimes a 4-2-3-1. EIther way, it’ll be compact and determined with an emphasis on killing creativity dead. They managed 403 clearances in their qualifying campaign, so they’re extremely well-versed in battening down the hatches and grinding out a result.

Age profile: 

With an average age of 28.8 years, they’re a balanced squad of vets and younger talents. They’ll need the energy in depth and a number of players at their physical peak in order to withstand some of the long games they’ll undoubtedly face. If they get to the knock-out rounds, expect them to be extra time specialists.

Key players: 

• CB: Omar Alderete - Solid centre-back known for his time at Sunderland and Getafe

• CB: Gustavo Gómez - Captain and defensive rock

• CM: Diego Gómez - Intense box-to-box player at the heart of Paraguay’s identity

• FW: Antonio Sanabria - Likely will pop up with a goal if they can play him in

• RW/AT: Miguel Almirón - Pacey outlet that Paraguay will rely on for the counter

• AM/FW: Julio Enciso - Brighton’s young talent and potential future star

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What to expect:

Paraguay just about qualified for the 2026 World Cup via the final 6th spot in the CONMEBOL standings. But by beating Brazil and Argentina at home along the way, they proved their credentials as a gritty, determined team not afraid to dig in and create an upset. 

Their story for the qualification campaign started slowly, with one point from three matches triggering a change of manager to Gustavo Alfaro. After that, they kicked on with a clear identity. It’s not an identity the purists will love, but in tournament football, winning by any means is the only true mark of quality. 

Make no mistake that they’ll be safety-first throughout the tournament, which may be interesting to watch against the USA in particular with a potentially expectant, impatient home crowd. 

How might they come unstuck?

• USA could look to use their width to stretch the compact lines of Paraguay. Paraguay will face a choice to stay compact and narrow or try to close the wide areas. I think they’ll stay narrow, but they’ll need to withstand repeated box deliveries and direct runs from the USA.

• Türkiye are technically the best team in the group. I expect they will be able to unlock Paraguay’s defence through the sheer quality and tenacity of players like Kenan Yildiz and Arda Güler.

• Australia is likely to be the closest match of styles. A set piece from Australia would be their best chances to score against Paraguay, so they’ll need to be careful not to give away silly free kicks and will need to defend their box powerfully for the full 90. 

  
  

One thing to note with Paraguay is their propensity to draw the ire of referees. They picked up by far the most yellow cards of the teams in this group during their qualifying campaign (44 vs 28 for the USA, 21 for Türkiye, 18 for Australia). Could a single sending off at the key moment in a key game be decisively weakening for them? We wouldn’t bet against it.

Key fixture: 

Paraguay vs Australia. Lose that one and suddenly qualification even as a third placed team becomes a challenge and would create a huge uphill struggle against the USA and Türkiye.

Our prediction: 

Hard to call, but we think they’ll struggle simply because of the relative strength of the group.

Their best strategy will be to try to beat Australia and draw against the USA and Türkiye. They might beat Australia. USA may prove too much for them with home advantage (although they are not good at breaking down low blocks). I can’t see them beating Türkiye. 

I therefore have them down as finishing 3rd in the group and likely to qualify as one of the best 3rd placed teams.

From there onwards, they could grind out results but I expect they’ll eventually be overwhelmed by elite individual attacking threats.