TheParaguay national football team (Spanish:Selección de fútbol de Paraguay;Guarani:Poravo Paraguáigua Vakapipopo pegua), nicknamedLa Albirroja, representsParaguay in men's internationalfootball competitions, and are controlled by theAsociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (English:Paraguayan Football Association). Paraguay is a member ofCONMEBOL. The Albirroja has qualified for tenFIFA World Cup competitions (1930,1950,1958,1986,1998,2002,2006,2010,2026 and2030), with their best performance coming in 2010 when they reached the quarter-finals. A regular participant at theCopa América, Paraguay have been crowned champions of the competition on two occasions (in1953 and1979). Paraguay's highestFIFA World Ranking was 8th in March 2001 and their lowest was 103rd in May 1995. Paraguay was awarded second place withBest Move of the Year in 1996 for their rise in the FIFA World Ranking.
The national team's most successful period was under the coaching of ArgentineGerardo Martino, who was awarded with theSouth American Coach of the Year in 2007 and took Paraguay to the quarter-finals stage of theFIFA World Cup competition for the first time in history (in2010) and also to thefinal of the2011 Copa América, where Paraguay finished as runners-up. In Paraguay's entire history at the FIFA World Cup, onlyCarlos Gamarra andJosé Luis Chilavert hold the distinction of being selected as part of theAll-Star Team, for their performances in the1998 edition.Paulo da Silva holds the most appearances for the national team with 148 matches andRoque Santa Cruz is the all-time leading goalscorer with 32 goals.Denis Caniza, who was part of the national team from 1996 to 2010, is the only player to have represented Paraguay in four consecutive FIFA World Cup competitions (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010).
Soon after the introduction of football in Paraguay byWilliams Paats, theLiga Paraguaya de Futbol (todayAsociación Paraguaya de Fútbol) was created in 1906. The first national football team was organized in 1910 when an invitation by the Argentine club Hércules ofCorrientes was received to play a friendly match that ended in a 0–0 draw.[4]
Because of the increasing number of invitations to play matches and international tournaments, the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol decided to officially create the national team and select the striped red and white jerseys that, to this day, remain as the official colours (taken from theParaguayan flag). In late 1919, Paraguay accepted an invitation to play the1921 South American Championship; in order to prepare for that event, a number of friendly matches were played between 1919 and 1921. The first of those friendly matches was a 5–1 loss againstArgentina, the first international match played by Paraguay. When the 1921 South American Championship began, Paraguay defeated three-time South American championsUruguay 2–1, with this being the first match in an official competition for the Paraguayan football team. Paraguay eventually finished fourth in the tournament and became a regular participant of the tournament for the next editions.
In 1930, Paraguay participated in the firstWorld Cup, organized by Uruguay. In the first round, Paraguay lost to theUnited States 0–3, before defeatingBelgium 1–0 with a goal byLuis Vargas Peña. Only one team per group advanced from the first round, and the U.S. left Paraguay behind.
After participating in the1929,1947 and1949 South American Championships (where Paraguay finished in second place), Paraguay returned to the World Cup in1950, facingSweden andItaly in Group 3. Paraguay failed to advance to the next round after a 2–2 draw against Sweden and a 2–0 loss against Italy. Paraguay won their firstSouth American Championship in 1953, played inPeru, after winning againstChile (3–0),Bolivia (2–1) andBrazil (2–1), and drawingEcuador (0–0),Peru (2–2) and Uruguay (2–2). Since Paraguay and Brazil were tied in points at the end of the tournament, a final playoff match was played between them, with Paraguay winning the final 3–2.
The departure of several of their stars for European football (mainly Spain) resulted in a weakening of Paraguay's football fortunes somewhat, but they were only edged out byMexico in the1962 qualifiers.[citation needed]
With players such asRomerito,Carlos Alberto Kiese,Alicio Solalinde,Roberto Paredes,Hugo Ricardo Talavera andEugenio Morel and manager Ranulfo Miranda,[5] Paraguay won the1979 Copa América after finishing first in Group C (which consisted of Uruguay and Ecuador as well) with two wins and two draws. In the semi-finals, Paraguay defeated Brazil by an aggregate score of 4–3. In the final, Paraguay defeated Chile by an aggregate score of 3–1 to claim its second continental crown.
Paraguay ended a 28-year absence from the World Cup in1986; during their time in Mexico, the team defeatedIraq 1–0, and drew the hosts 1–1 and Belgium 2–2. They reached the second round where they were beaten 3–0 byEngland.[6]
A drought followed once again, as Paraguay failed to reach the1990 and1994 World Cups.
In 1992, Paraguay won the South American pre-Olympic tournament, which guaranteed a spot in the1992 Summer Olympics football competition. In the Olympics, Paraguay finished second in its group and were eliminated byGhana in the quarter-finals.[7] Despite this, new players such asCarlos Gamarra,Celso Ayala,José Luis Chilavert,Francisco Arce andJosé Cardozo emerged, becoming part of the "golden generation" that led Paraguay to three straight World Cups and noteworthy performances in continental competitions.[citation needed]
Coached by the BrazilianPaulo César Carpegiani, theAlbirroja returned to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1986. Paraguay were drawn into Group D, alongsideBulgaria,Nigeria andSpain. Paraguay drew their first two matches 0–0, against Bulgaria and Spain.[8] Nigeria, who had already qualified for the second round after winning their first two matches, lost 3–1 to Paraguay, who finished second in the group.
Paraguay met hosts France (withoutZinedine Zidane) in the round of 16 on 28 June, with a goalless 90 minutes. In the 114th minute of extra-time,Laurent Blanc scored to eliminate Paraguay with agolden goal.[9] Defender Carlos Gamarra and goalkeeper and captain José Luís Chilavert were selected as part of the 1998All-Star Team.
Paraguay were hosts of the1999 Copa América, played in four cities throughout the country. Many of the 1998 World Cup players returned, to be coached byEver Hugo Almeida. Grouped with Bolivia,Japan and Peru, the Albirroja played their first match of the competition, drawing 0–0 against Bolivia. On 2 July, Paraguay faced Japan and sealed a 4–0 victory. In Paraguay's third and last group stage fixture against Peru, Paraguay won 1–0. TheAlbirroja topped the group with seven points. Paraguay were drawn against Uruguay at the quarter-final stage. The match was decided via a penalty shootout, which saw Paraguay lose 5–3. Following the conclusion of the competition, striker Roque Santa Cruz was awarded with the 1999Paraguayan Footballer of the Year award.[10]
In the2001 Copa América, head coachSergio Markarián selected a squad of mostly domestic based players. Paraguay were drawn against Peru, Mexico and Brazil. Their 12 July match against Peru ended 3–3. On 15 July, Paraguay drew 0–0 with Mexico, before Brazil's 3–1 win three days later in Paraguay's last group stage fixture.
Cesare Maldini being appointed as coach in January 2002 caused controversy as domestic managers were overlooked (prompting the managers union to try to unsuccessfully expel him for immigration breaches).[11][12] They were inGroup B withSpain,South Africa andSlovenia. The Albirroja would face South Africa in their opening group stage match on 2 June, with a match that ended in a 2–2 draw, before Spain defeated Paraguay 3–1 on 7 June. In the third group stage fixture against Slovenia, Paraguay won 3–1. Although Paraguay and South Africa had finished with four points each with a goal difference of 0, the Albirroja progressed due to having scored six goals while South Africa scored five.[13] Paraguay then facedGermany, who dominated the match, scoring in the 88th minute on their way to the final.[14]
CoachCarlos Jara Saguier took a relatively young squad to the 2004 Copa América, with the majority of players tied to clubs of thePrimera División Paraguaya. Having been drawn in Group C with Brazil, Costa Rica and Chile, a penalty sealed Paraguay's 1–0 victory in their first group stage match against Costa Rica. Paraguay then drew 1–1 with Chile, then earned a 2–1 victory against Brazil, finishing undefeated in their group with seven points. Paraguay were drawn against Uruguay in the quarter-finals, being eliminated after losing 3–1.
The team was drawn intoGroup B alongsideEngland,Sweden andTrinidad and Tobago. Paraguay faced England in their opening group stage match on 10 June, with the Three Lions winning 1–0. Paraguay failed to score against Sweden on 15 June, and were eliminated after just two group stage matches, with their only compensation being a 2–0 win against Trinidad and Tobago. Paraguay finished third in their group, and were the only South American team that did not advance past the first round.[citation needed] Upon the conclusion of Paraguay's 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign,Aníbal Ruiz resigned as head coach andRaúl Vicente Amarilla was assigned as the interim coach.
Group C included Paraguay,Argentina,Colombia, and theUnited States. In Paraguay's first fixture, they would defeat Colombia 5–0 after a hat-trick from Roque Santa Cruz and a double fromSalvador Cabañas.[16] In Paraguay's second fixture against the United States, Édgar Barreto opened the scoring in the 29th minute just before the USA'sRicardo Clark equalized in the 35th minute. Paraguay would win the match 3–1 after a goal from Óscar Cardozo and a 92nd minute free kick from Salvador Cabañas.[17]
With both Paraguay and Argentina having obtained six points and qualifying from Group C, the two teams faced in their last group stage fixture with a second-string team. A 79th minuteJavier Mascherano goal was enough to seal a 1–0 victory for Argentina,[18] as Paraguay advanced to the knockout stages to faceMexico. Mexico had already beatenBrazil in the group stage and had finished in first place in Group B. After Paraguayan goalkeeper Aldo Bobadilla was sent off in the third minute, Paraguay conceded a penalty in the fifth minute and eventually found themselves down 3–0 at half-time. Mexico would score another three more goals, thrashing Paraguay 6–0 and ending their Copa América campaign.[19]
Coach Gerardo Martino regarded Salvador Cabañas as the Albirroja's best player,[20] Martino also considered Cabañas as Paraguay'sLionel Messi.[21][22]
Paraguay commenced their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 0–0 away draw againstPeru.[23] They followed this draw with four consecutive wins — against Urugauay (1–0), Ecuador (5–1), Chile (3–0), and Brazil (2–0) — to take the team to first place in the CONMEBOL standings after four matches,[24][25] staying there for nine consecutive rounds. Paraguay lost for the first time in qualifying in a 4–2 away defeat againstBolivia.[26] They eventually concluded qualifying with 33 points.[citation needed]
The 2010 World Cup saw Paraguay drawn intoGroup F alongside defending championsItaly,Slovakia andNew Zealand, with the team facing Italy in their opening match and drawing 1–1, after taking the lead in the 39th minute.[27] They then beat Slovakia 2–0[28] and drew New Zealand 0–0, to finish first in the group.[29]
Paraguay then eliminatedJapan in the round of 16, as they won a penalty shoot-out 5–3 after a 0–0 draw.[30] Paraguay advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time.[31]The Albirroja were drawn againstSpain at the quarter-final stage. Paraguayan goalkeeperJusto Villar saved a penalty kick, but Spain scored in the 83rd minute to win 1–0, and went on to win the tournament.[32] After the match, Gerardo Martino stated that he would be leaving his position at the end of his contract.
As one of the best third-placed teams that advanced, Paraguay won the rematch against Brazil. The match was decided via a penalty shoot out, with Paraguay winning in order to meet Venezuela in the semi-final. With another penalty shoot out, Paraguay won 5–3 to advance to their first final since1979, where they lost toUruguay. Despite the loss, Paraguayan goalkeeperJusto Villar was awarded as thebest goalkeeper of the tournament. Gerardo Martino resigned soon afterwards as coach of the Albirroja.
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Francisco Arce was in charge of the Albirroja in 2011, following the departure of Gerardo Martino.
Throughout the duration of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Paraguay changed coaches three times, only to end up last in qualifying.[citation needed] The2015 Copa América eventually saw Paraguay reach the semi-finals, after defeating Brazil in the quarter-finals on penalties. They were eliminated by Argentina by a score of 6–1.[33]
COV Withdrew due to COVID-19 INJ Withdrew due to injury PRE Preliminary squad RET Retired from the national team SUS Suspended WD Withdrew from the squad
^Since 1992, squads forFootball at the Summer Olympics have been restricted to three players over the age of 23. The achievements of such teams are not usually included in the statistics of the international team.
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