Paraguay 26 World Cup Preview

Riding a decent start to World Cup qualifying in 2023, Paraguay rolled into the 2024 Copa only to get embarrassed. It was the type of campaign so bad that it could have derailed their road to 26, but in came a new manager & the team re-stabilized to make it back to the men's big dance.

Paraguay are simply one of the best defenses not only in America, but the entire world at this point. They ask their landlord (opponents) to increase their rent (amount of defending they have to do) because that's how much they believe in their grind/hustle. And it's worked in qualifying! They sit in a 4-4-2 with a phenomenal pairing down the middle; Omar Alderete & captain Gustavo Gomez, the latter whom was absent from the out-of-place Copa experience where they shipped a bunch of goals. They're flanked by defend-first fullbacks. No nonsense anywhere on the back line.

Those defenders are protected a midfield 4 that always consists of Andres Cubas & Diego Gomez, though it's anyone's guess whether the latter will be deployed centrally or out wide. Miguel Almiron is expected to me the left mid, if healthy. Paraguay truly have dual 6s in this formation, who stay strictly at home as the front 4 is the only unit really doing much pressing in this team. With such defensive guys in central midfield & fullback, the team really only attacks with 4, maybe 5 players if they're feeling a little frisky.

It's that attack, or complete lack thereof. For a team so incredible at defending deep, they possess no real counterattacking threat. Almiron has hit a wall & nobody else has a combination of speed with high technical quality.

Paraguay are overly-reliant on set pieces & 25 yard hits from Julio Enciso, neither of which are consistencies to rely on. It feels like the literal tactical instruction in opponent halves is to just win a set piece opportunity.

The manager likes to throw out Diego Gomez on a wing to seemingly help the attack, but he's a 3rd fiddle runner as a wide attacker; he isn't Him. Paraguay always looked better when he would be Cubas's partner just because he elevates the defensive unit far more than anybody else could at that point.

In theory, you could win the 48-team World Cup without scoring a goal as long as you don't concede any.

Also for scoring goals, these guys love to take opponents to Set Piece City. Again, not reliable, but those things tend to rear their heads in tournaments.

If you are a fellow defense-loving sicko like I am, Paraguay can be a fun team to get behind. I throw out the "these guys can 0-0 anybody" all the damn time in tournament previews, but this is genuinely the #1 team set to do that.