Paraguay targets historic win over Germany after World Cup return

Paraguay entered the World Cup with a chance to turn Gustavo Alfaro’s rebuild into more than a qualification story, meeting Germany with the weight of a first finals appearance in 16 years. Alfaro had gathered the Guaraníes for a motivational talk, trying to turn belief and tactical discipline into the kind of collective edge that could narrow the gap against a far deeper squad.

Paraguay had been in serious danger of missing a fourth straight World Cup before Alfaro took over in August and changed the trajectory of the campaign.

Gustavo Gómez, Miguel Almirón and Julio Enciso were key figures in Paraguay’s campaign, the players expected to carry the team’s identity on a stage where every mistake could prove costly. That pressure was sharpened by the new World Cup format, which expands the tournament to 48 teams, 104 matches and 32 places in the knockout round, raising the value of each result for teams that cannot afford a slow start.

Germany arrived as the clear favorite, but also as a giant searching for repair. Under Julian Nagelsmann, the four-time world champion was trying to restore a reputation weakened by consecutive group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022.

The history between the sides still leaned German. Their most famous World Cup meeting came in the 2002 round of 16, when Germany beat Paraguay 1-0 on Oliver Neuville’s 88th-minute goal. The only other recent reminder of how close the matchup could be came in a 3-3 friendly in 2013.