Paraguay beats Türkiye 1-0, Galarza scores World Cup's fastest goal

Matías Galarza needed just 64 seconds to change the feel of Group D, and Paraguay needed far longer to finish the job. In a match that turned on speed at one end and resilience at the other, Paraguay beat Türkiye 1-0 at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area and sent Türkiye out of the World Cup.

The goal came almost immediately after kickoff in Match 31 of the tournament’s first stage, with FIFA listing the fixture as a 03:00 kickoff on June 20, 2026 UTC. Galarza’s strike stood as the fastest goal of the 2026 FIFA World Cup at that point, a flash of decisiveness that Paraguay carried through an increasingly punishing night.

What made the result striking was how little of the ball Paraguay actually had. Türkiye controlled 78.5 percent possession, produced 32 shot attempts to Paraguay’s seven and earned 12 corner kicks to Paraguay’s none, yet never found a breakthrough. Paraguay spent much of the match with 10 men after Miguel Almirón was sent off, but the team’s defensive shape and Orlando Gill’s goalkeeping kept Türkiye at bay.

Türkiye needed a goal to stay alive, and the numbers suggested the chances were there. The pressure mounted as Gill denied Deniz Gül and turned away a bid from Semih Uzun before the rebound was pushed off target. Still, Türkiye’s territorial edge never became the equalizer, leaving Vincenzo Montella’s side to exit after a defeat that did not match the volume of its attacking output.

The stakes extended beyond the two teams on the field. Paraguay’s win secured the United States the top spot in Group D, a group that also included Australia. For Paraguay, the victory was a statement of efficiency and resistance: one early chance taken, then a long stretch of survival against a far more possession-heavy opponent.

The result also carried historical weight. Türkiye had returned to the World Cup finals after a 24-year absence, while Paraguay were back after 16 years away from the tournament. Paraguay’s strongest World Cup run remained South Africa 2010, when it reached the quarter-finals, while Türkiye’s high-water mark came in 2002, when it reached the semifinals and finished third. In San Francisco Bay Area heat and pressure, those past achievements framed a match that Paraguay won not by controlling everything, but by controlling the one moment that mattered most.