Paraguay again showed his traditional ‘kuko’ on the eighth day of the South American qualifiers of 2026 World Cup making his first victim, a faint formation of Brazil which they won with a 1-0 victory at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción.
La Albirroja, in the second game under the command of Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, won for the first time at home in this league, after getting a 0-0 win from Montevideo on Friday, and today, with 9 points , it occupies the seventh place, which gives the right to play for the play-offs. Brazil is now fifth in the standings, with ten points, eight behind the leader, Argentina.
Midfielder Diego Gómez created a great goal from distance in the 20th minute that left goalkeeper Alisson with no margin. Gómez, Lionel Messi’s teammate at Inter Miami, received the ball on the left side of the area, held it, switched fronts and shot well and put the ball in the back of the net.
The story was different from that moment as the Argentine led by Gustavo Alfaro threatened to enter the rival area and create dangerous actions, while a confused Canarinha team looked for Vinicius, Rodrygo and Endrick to try to get out of trouble.
La Verdeamarela imposed the pace of the game from the first minutes, but was unable to break down the well-organized defense set up by Alfaro. With the score against them, the visitors looked for spaces, but Gustavo Alfaro’s men had other plans, which did not involve taking things easy.
The world champion tried to go back in search of the ball and found a Guaraní team that closed the gaps and opted for the counterattack. As the clock ticked down, the strong and not so good game was present in a packed Defensores del Chaco. Locals cheered every intervention by Gómez or attackers Jorge Enciso and Miguel Almirón, both English soccer stars, by shouting “ole.”
The second half of the match was a back and forth of cleared balls and a Brazilian team succeeded in several passages through indifference. Paraguay, showing tiredness and fatigue from an intense game at home, slowed down and ended up giving away space. This is how Vinícius Júnior had a chance to score in the 72nd minute with a shot that required goalkeeper Roberto Fernández to quickly clear, although it did not change the outcome.
TECHNICAL SHEET
1 – Paraguay: Roberto Fernandez; Juan Cáceres, Fabián Balbuena, Omar Alderete (m.39, Gustavo Velázquez), Junior Alonso, Mathías Villasanti, Damián Bobadilla, Diego Gómez (Ramón Sosa, m.66), Miguel Almirón (Hugo Cuenca, m.86), Julio Enciso (Blas Rivero, m.85) and Isidro Pitta (Alex Arce, m.67).
Instructor: Gustavo Alfaro.
0 – Brazil: Alisson; Danilo, Marquinhos, Gabriel Magalhães, Guilherme Arana (Estêvão Willian, d.86); André, Bruno Guimarães (Luiz Henrique André Rosa da Silva, m.46), Lucas Paquetá (Gerson Santos da Silva, m.79); Rodrygo (Lucas Moura, m.79), Endrick (João Pedro, m.46) and Vinícius Júnior.
Instructor: Dorival Junior.
Purpose: 1-0, Diego Gómez (m. 20)
Referee: Uruguayan Andrés Matonte warned Damián Bobadilla, Diego Gómez, Junior Alonso, Miguel Almirón, Lucas Paquetá and Vinícus Junior.
Incidents: The match on the eighth day of the South American qualifiers was played at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
