Paraguay were reduced to 10 men in the first half but managed to resist Turkey‘s pressure and remain alive in the 2026 World Cup.
It was a tense affair at Levi’s Stadium from the start. Anyone watching the game felt like there could be a red card at any given moment. Surprisingly, it was a mouth-covering one rather than a hard foul or aggression.
Former Newcastle United midfielder Miguel Almiron put his nation in real danger of elimination. A second straight loss would have left the Albirroja out of the tournament completely, but his teammates persevered and delivered one of the most heroic showings so far.
Instead, it is the Crescent Stars who now have no chance of advancing to the next round. Let’s take a look at how it all went down.
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How did Paraguay manage to hold on against Turkey?
Caceres vs Yildiz
Just like they did against Australia, Turkey favoured left-sided attacks heavily against Paraguay as well. The idea was always to find Juventus young star Kenan Yildiz on his own down the flank in one-on-one situations.
However, there were rarely one-on-one situations for Yildiz to take advantage of. Not only did Juan Caceres do a great job marking him, he also had a lot of support. Almiron in the first half before receiving the red card and centre-midfielder Andres Cubas.
The Paraguayan right-back now holds the records for duels contested (24), duels won (17) and tackles made (9) of any player in a single 2026 World Cup match.
Of course, Yildiz did complete four take-ons and got six shots off. But always from awkward positions and/or lots of bodies between him and the goal.
And that’s not to mention the amount of times he was forced to carry the ball backwards because Caceres denied him final third/penalty area entries.
This was the matchup that Turkey needed to win the most. But it ended up going on Paraguay’s favour and decided the game to a certain extent.
Work rate in midfield
We mentioned Cubas before, but Brighton and Hove Albion’s Diego Gomez also put in a great shift. Goalscorer Matias Galarza worked his socks off as well.
Sometimes too much, in fact, as he received a yellow card for a hard foul just two minutes after scoring the fastest goal in the 2026 World Cup. And then flirted with a second booking many times until leaving the pitch on stoppage time.
Almiron and Galarza were great at offering support for their full-backs and limiting Yildiz’s and Arda Guler’s impact on the match.
Additionally, Paraguay manager Gustavo Alfaro set his side in a deep 4-4-2 zonal low block in the first half with a small and smart caveat. The closest centre-midfielder would always track Hakan Calhanoglu individually.
For perspective, Calhanoglu was only the fifth Turkish footballer with the most touches during the first half hour of play. With 10 men, however, it was impossible to maintain the strategy and the Inter Milan midfielder ended the game with 106 touches – a tally bettered only by centre-back Abdulkerim Bardakci.
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Stunning stats
We mentioned Juan Caceres as one of – if not the – standout player against Turkey. But it was a collective effort.
Paraguay ended the game with 69 duels won overall, the third best return of any team in a single game this World Cup. Only Canada (71 vs Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Bosnia themselves against the hosts (79) had more.
The South Americans also had the second most blocks in a match so far: 12, two fewer than Qatar against Canada.
Gustavo Gomez (12) and Omar Alderete (10) became just the second pair of teammates to both record 10+ clearances in the same game. The first was Bosnia duo Nicola Katic (16) and Tarik Muharemovic (21) vs Canada.
In the end, Paraguay managed to deny Turkey dangerous entries, always forcing them to retreat and whip the ball into the box. There were a few dangerous moments, but the Crescent Stars really struggled to break the Albirroja down.
Their best chances all came from counter-attacks or transitions from opposing corners or indirect free-kicks.
Substitute striker Deniz Gul had chances to score from both those scenarios, but failed to put them away.
Before we forget, Julio Enciso had a delightful performance dancing past opponents, holding the ball and setting teammates up. It’s now two assists in two World Cup games for the former Brighton man.
All in all, for a team that had nearly 80% possession and over 30 shot attempts, one clear-cut goalscoring opportunity and a few decent half-chances is not enough.
Paraguay hardly created anything themselves, but defended much better than Turkey attacked.
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