Paraguay was in charge of giving another hard blow 1-0 to a Brazil without any ingenuity, who are playing one of the worst qualifying matches in their history. The only goal of the match was scored by attacking midfielder Diego Gómez, in the 20th minute.
According to the criteria of
In their second match under the command of Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, La Albirroja won for the first time at home in this play-off, after drawing 0-0 in Montevideo on Friday, and now, with 9 points, they are in seventh place, which gives them the right to play in a play-off. Brazil is now fifth in the standings, with ten points, eight behind the leader, Argentina.
Midfielder Diego Gomez created a long-range goal in the 20th minute that left goalkeeper Alisson with no chance. Gomez, Lionel Messi’s teammate at Inter Miami, received the ball on the left side of the area, held on to it, changed his front and expertly fired the ball into the back of the net.
The story was different from that moment on, as the team led by Argentine Gustavo Alfaro took the risk of entering the rival area and generating dangerous actions, while a bewildered Canarinha team looked for Vinicius, Rodrygo and Endrick to try to get out of the problem. The Verdeamarela had imposed the pace of the game from the first minutes, but were unable to break the orderly 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 making things easier. Eona del Mundo tried to retreat in search of the ball and found a Paraguayan team that closed the spaces and bet on the counterattack.
Paraguay’s Isidro Pitta (l) fights for the ball with Brazil’s Marquinhos on Tuesday, during a South American qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup between Paraguay and Brazil at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción (Paraguay). EFE/ Juan Pablo Pino
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As the clock ticked down, the hard, but not pretty, play was present in a packed Defensores del Chaco. The locals cheered on with cries of “ole” for every intervention by Gómez or the forwards Jorge Enciso and Miguel Almirón, both stars of English football. The second half of the match thus became a back and forth of cleared balls and a Brazilian team that was overcome in several passages by apathy.
Paraguay, showing signs of fatigue and weariness from an intense match at home, slowed down and ended up giving up space. This is how Vinícius Júnior had the opportunity to try a shot in the 72nd minute that forced goalkeeper Roberto Fernández to clear quickly, although it did not change the outcome.
Paraguay’s Diego Gomez (l) celebrates a goal on Tuesday, in a South American qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup between Paraguay and Brazil at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asuncion (Paraguay). EFE/ Juan Pablo Pino
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Technical data sheet
1. Paraguay: Coach: 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. Coach: Dorival Junior.
Goals: 1-0, m.20: Diego Gomez. Referee: Uruguayan Andres Matonte cautioned Damian Bobadilla, Diego Gomez, Junior Alonso, Miguel Almiron, Lucas Paquetá and Vinícus Junior.
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