Enciso gives Paraguay lead as they chase World Cup upset over Germany

Julio Enciso gave Paraguay the lead and, in the same moment, exposed the first real nerves in Germany’s World Cup campaign at Boston Stadium. The 22-year-old forward’s finish changed the mood around the Round of 32 tie, with Paraguay suddenly playing on the front foot and Germany forced to answer an early knockout-stage problem.

The match was staged on 29 June 2026 in Boston, with FIFA listing kick-off at 20:30 local time. FIFA’s match centre named Jalal Jayed as referee and Ning Ma as fourth official. On paper, Germany entered as the established force in the tie; on the field, Paraguay’s goal gave Gustavo Alfaro’s side the kind of platform that can transform a round-of-32 match from routine control into damage limitation.

That matters because Paraguay arrived back at a FIFA World Cup for the first time since South Africa 2010 after a remarkable turnaround under Alfaro. FIFA had described the team as being in danger of missing a fourth straight World Cup before Alfaro reversed their direction, and Enciso was singled out as one of the headline names in a 26-man squad that also included Miguel Almiron and Antonio Sanabria. The early lead against Germany fit the broader shape of Paraguay’s revival: compact, ambitious and suddenly unafraid of the stage.

Enciso has been at the center of that profile. FIFA had previously highlighted him after a Puskás Award-nominated strike for Brighton & Hove Albion against Manchester City, and the same directness was on display here as Paraguay pressed for a result that would send shock waves through the knockout bracket. For Alfaro, the task was no longer simply to restore Paraguay to the tournament, but to make that return count against one of the sport’s heaviest heavyweights.

The fixture also carried a sharper edge because FIFA’s pre-match coverage pointed back to the countries’ previous World Cup meeting in 2002, when Oliver Neuville scored late to settle Germany’s win. More than two decades later, Paraguay were trying to flip that script. Enciso’s goal did more than put them ahead; it asked whether Germany’s discomfort was a one-off jolt or the first sign of a deeper vulnerability under pressure.