3 days ago
This article is portion of nan Guardian’s 2026 World Cup Experts’ Network, a practice betwixt immoderate of nan champion media organisations from nan 48 countries who qualified. theguardian.com is moving previews from 3 countries each time successful nan run-up to nan tourney kicking disconnected connected 11 June.
The plan
Paraguay earned their spot connected football’s top shape by going backmost to their roots: protect spot and corporate intensity. For years nan squad tried to play a possession-based crippled without succeeding successful either defence aliases attack. Then, successful August 2024, Gustavo Alfaro arrived pinch a clear connection from time one: “Paraguayan DNA, strength and cleanable sheets. That’s what will return america to nan World Cup.” He was not wrong.
The Argentinian coach remained religious to nan 4-4-2 statement successful almost each match, only switching to a backmost 5 successful nan high-altitude games against Ecuador and Bolivia. At nan World Cup he seems astir apt to favour that classical 4-4-2, pinch possibly an occasional 4-2-3-1.
Since replacing Daniel Garnero – sacked aft a dismal Copa América – Alfaro has transformed nan team. From his first match, distant against Uruguay successful Montevideo, Paraguay looked a different side. Subsequent location victories against Brazil and Argentina convinced moreover nan biggest skeptics that nan “new” Albirroja was real.
Paraguay: Group D fixtures
Show12 June v USA, Los Angeles (6pm local, 13 June 2am BST, 13 June 10am AEST)
19 June v Turkey, San Francisco (8pm local, 20 June 4am BST, 20 June 1pm AEST)
25 June v Australia, San Francisco (7pm local, 26 June 3am BST, 26 June noon AEST)
During qualifying, Paraguay mislaid only erstwhile distant nether Alfaro, against Brazil. They earned heroic draws successful Bolivia, 4,100m supra oversea level, successful Ecuador astatine 2,800m, and successful nan suffocating power and humidity of Barranquilla against Colombia. Qualification was sealed pinch a tense 0-0 tie astatine location against Ecuador. The consequence triggered euphoria and nan country’s president, Santiago Peña, declared nan pursuing time a nationalist holiday.
While Paraguay’s top spot lies successful their strength and physicality, they tin besides nutrient bully football, building smoothly from nan backmost and relying connected nan gamechanging talent of Julio Enciso.
The coach
Gustavo Alfaro has inspired nan rebirth of nan nationalist squad aft years of failure. The Argentinian retired arsenic a footballer successful 1992, aged 30, to ore connected a burgeoning coaching career. Relying connected toughness and protect discipline, Alfaro guided humble Arsenal de Sarandí to glory winning nan 2007 Copa Sudamericana and nan 2012 Argentinian Primera División. Those triumphs defined his full profession and he is still regarded arsenic a protect coach. He erstwhile utilized a quote wide attributed to nan erstwhile hoops subordinate and executive Pat Riley to explicate his philosophy: “If I want to build an violative team, nan first point I person to do is activity connected protect discipline, different my ass is going to beryllium retired of here.”
One of his top achievements came erstwhile he led a young Ecuador broadside to nan 2022 World Cup. A well-read man, who often uses philosophical phrases successful property conferences to explicate things, Alfaro is besides known arsenic “El Cazador (The Hunter)” successful reference to nan book he wrote aft taking La Tri to Qatar, titled Cazadores de Utopías Imposibles, Hunters of Impossible Utopias.
Star player
Julio Enciso. One of nan top players produced by Paraguayan shot successful nan past 20 years. La Joya (The Jewel) amazed pinch his talent successful Libertad – who gave jobs to some his mother, a location cleaner, and his father, a thoroughfare vendor, to person them to move to Asunción erstwhile their boy was conscionable 12 – and debuted for nan nationalist squad astatine 17 earlier making nan bold leap to nan Premier League. He had immoderate bully moments successful Brighton, scoring a Puskás Award-worthy screamer against Man City, nevertheless injuries and managerial changes gradually eroded his impact.
Enciso sewage joined and recovered a caller opening successful Strasbourg, wherever he presently plays. Fast and direct, a difference-maker, a gamechanger successful nan last third, Enciso is simply a typical talent. In honour of his grandfather, he fulfilled his dream of playing successful a World Cup: “I dedicate this to him. He’s surely watching maine from heaven.”
One to watch
Damián Bobadilla. Unlike his father, nan erstwhile goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla, Damián Bobadilla ne'er put connected nan gloves. And it’s a bully point he didn’t – he has go an fantabulous midfielder. But his begetter remains his awesome hero. “My dada didn’t person a cape, but he flew from station to post,” he erstwhile said affectionately. Bobadilla burst onto nan segment astatine his boyhood nine Cerro Porteño successful 2021, showing each nan strengths of a high-quality box-to-box midfielder: physicality, calmness, and clever decision-making. Since 2024 he has been playing for São Paulo successful Brazil’s apical division, wherever he has already established himself arsenic 1 of nan team’s cardinal players. Now 24, if he continues performing astatine this level he looks fresh for nan adjacent large measurement successful his career.
Unsung hero
The full squad building relies connected Andrés Cubas. He provides balance, wins duels and fights for each shot arsenic if it were his past challenge. Although he is chiefly a protect midfielder, Cubas is besides tin of initiating speedy transitions into onslaught aft regaining possession. Born successful Argentina, and a erstwhile Argentina world astatine under-20 level, Cubas promised his mother – who was calved successful Paraguay – that he would correspond her state if he was fixed nan chance. At 5ft 6in he is not physically imposing, but his intelligence, positioning and tenacity much than dress up for it.
Probable starting XI
What to expect from fans astatine games?
Travel agencies successful Paraguay are offering round-trip packages to nan United States that see tickets to each 3 group-stage matches, pinch prices starting from US$20,000 (£15,000). Considering nan mean monthly costs successful nan state is astir $450 it is an tremendous sum. Nevertheless, thousands of Paraguayans fans are expected to make nan travel to nan World Cup aft a 16-year absence. The streets of Inglewood and Santa Clara are apt to beryllium filled pinch red, achromatic and bluish – not nan stars and stripes, but nan accepted Tricolor of Paraguay and nan Albirroja jersey. And those colours will beryllium joined by nan iconic chanting: “La Albirroooo, la Albirroooo, la Albirroja, la Albirroooo!” connected repeat.
Relationship pinch nan US/Trump?
Paraguay and nan US person been semipermanent friends and location has been small to propose that is astir to change: Peña, nan 47-year-old who has served arsenic president of Paraguay since 2023, described Donald Trump’s reelection arsenic “a dream travel true”, while Marco Rubio described Peña arsenic a “strong American ally”. Earlier this year, however, Trump described his Paraguayan counterpart arsenic a “young, handsome guy”, which turned retired not to beryllium arsenic affirmative arsenic it initially appears. “It’s ever bully to beryllium young and handsome. It doesn’t mean we person to for illustration you,” Trump continued. “I don’t for illustration young, handsome men. Women, I like. Men, I don’t person immoderate interest.”
Written by Christian Pérez and Óscar Gómez for VS Sports.
