Paraguayan National Football Team / World Championships

Paraguay
Tetã Paraguái ( Green. )
República del Paraguay ( Spa. )

World Cup record goalscorer:	Nelson Cuevas (3)
World Cup record players:	Denis Caniza and Roque Santa Cruz (12 each)
Rank :	24
Balance sheet
27 World Cup games 7 wins 10 draws 10 defeats 30:38 goals
statistics
First World Cup game Paraguay 0: 3 USA Montevideo ( URY ); 17th July 1930
Biggest World Cup victories Paraguay 3: 1 Nigeria Toulouse ( FRA ); June 24, 1998 Paraguay 3-1 Slovenia Seogwipo ( KOR ); June 2, 2002 Paraguay 2-0 Trinidad and Tobago Kaiserslautern ( DEU ); June 20, 2006 Paraguay 2-0 Slovenia Bloemfontein ( ZAF ); June 20, 2010
Biggest World Cup defeat Paraguay 3-7 France Norrköping ( SWE ); June 8, 1958
successes
World Championship
Participation in the finals	8 ( first : 1930 )
Best results	Quarterfinals 2010
Best placements in the countries that host the FIFA World Cup
(As of July 2018 )

The article contains a detailed description of the Paraguayan national soccer team at soccer world championships .

Overview

Paraguay took part in eight world championship finals. Several times they were eliminated in the qualification, including once against the eventual world champion. Since the South American qualification was held in the league system between all South American CONMEBOL members from the end of the 1990s , Paraguay has been able to qualify four times in a row, but not since 2014. Paraguay's best performance was reaching the quarter-finals in 2010; three more times they qualified for the round of 16. Paraguay lost three times in the knockout round with 0: 1, including twice against eventual world champions France and Spain and in 2002 against eventual runners-up Germany . In 2010 Paraguay was able to prevail against reigning world champions Italy in the group stage. In the all-time ranking, Paraguay is the fifth best South American team and is in 24th place.

year	Host country	Participation until ...	Last opponent	Result	Trainer	Comments and special features
1930	Uruguay	Preliminary round	USA , Belgium	9.	José Durand Laguna	The games against the USA and Belgium were the first against a North American and European team.
1934	Italy	not participated
1938	France	not participated
1950	Brazil	Preliminary round	Sweden , Italy	11.	Manuel Fleitas Solich
1954	Switzerland	not qualified				In the qualifications of vice world champion Brazil failed
1958	Sweden	Preliminary round	France , Yugoslavia , Scotland	12.	Aurelio Gonzáles	The 3-7 win against France is one of the highest-scoring games in World Cup history
1962	Chile	not qualified				In qualifying at Mexico failed
1966	England	not qualified				In the qualification of Argentina failed
1970	Mexico	not qualified				In qualifying at eventual champions Brazil failed
1974	Germany	not qualified				In the qualification of Argentina failed
1978	Argentina	not qualified				In the qualification of Brazil failed
1982	Spain	not qualified				In the qualification of Chile failed
1986	Mexico	Round of 16	England	13.	Cayetano Ré	3-0 loss to England
1990	Italy	not qualified				In the qualification of Colombia failed
1994	United States	not qualified				In the qualification of Colombia and Vice World Champion Argentina failed
1998	France	Round of 16	France	14th	Paulo César Carpegiani	0-1 defeat by Golden Goal against the eventual world champion
2002	South Korea / Japan	Round of 16	Germany	16.	Cesare Maldini	0-1 defeat against the eventual runner-up
2006	Germany	Preliminary round	England , Sweden , Trinidad and Tobago	18th	Aníbal Ruiz
2010	South Africa	Quarter finals	Spain	8th.	Gerardo Martino	0-1 defeat against eventual world champions
2014	Brazil	not qualified				With a 2: 5 on the third last match day against Argentina, which qualified as a result, Paraguay missed the qualification prematurely.
2018	Russia	not qualified				Failed as seventh in the CONMEBOL qualification .

Statistics (data including 2018: 21 World Championships; percentages are rounded)

• Participation waiver: 2 × (10%; 1934 and 1938)
• Unqualified: 11 × (52%; 1954, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, 1994, 2014 and 2018)
• Sports qualification: 6 × (29% or 35% of the attempts)
• Participation without qualification: 2 × (10%; 1930 and 1950)
  • Preliminary round: 4 × (20%; 1930, 1950, 1958 and 2006)
  • Round of 16: 3 × (15%; 1986, 1998 and 2002)
  • Quarter-finals: 1 × (5%; 2010)

1930 in Uruguay

Paraguay took part in the first World Cup in Uruguay in 1930. In the preliminary round, the team met the USA and Belgium . The game against the USA was lost 3-0, with Bertram Patenaude scoring all three goals. They beat Belgium 1-0, with captain Luis Vargas Peña scoring Paraguay's first ever World Cup goal. Since only the group winners advanced to the semi-finals, Paraguay was eliminated.

1934 in Italy

Like most South American teams, Paraguay did not register for the first World Cup in Europe.

1938 in France

Paraguay did not participate four years later either.

1950 in Brazil

For the first World Cup in Brazil, Paraguay should qualify in a group with Uruguay, Ecuador and Peru. With Ecuador and Peru withdrawn, Paraguay and Uruguay qualified without a fight.

In Brazil, Paraguay was drawn into a group with defending champions Italy , Sweden and India. Since the Indians were not allowed to play barefoot, they did not participate. Against the Swedes, who had defeated Italy 3-2 four days earlier, a 2-2 win in Curitiba . With a win against the defending champion Paraguay could have reached the final round of the top four. But since they lost 2-0 to Italy, which had three more days off and could also play both games in São Paulo , Paraguay was eliminated from the bottom of the group. The victory did not help Italy either.

1954 in Switzerland

Only Brazil , Chile and Paraguay from South America had registered in time to qualify for the World Cup in Switzerland . So they played a starting place in a group of three. Paraguay competed as the reigning South American champions and played the first World Cup qualifier on February 14, 1954 in Asunción , which was won 4-0 against Chile. The second leg in Santiago de Chile a week later was also won. Against Brazil, which also won both games against Chile, both games were lost. Paraguay could not qualify as second in the group.

1958 in Sweden

For the 1958 FIFA World Cup wanted to participate, at the now eight South American teams, Paraguay had against Colombia and Uruguay qualify . Paraguay and Uruguay won their home games. But since Paraguay won in Colombia, which took part for the first time, while Uruguay did not get more than 1: 1 there, Paraguay was able to qualify for the World Cup.

In Sweden, after a 3-2 lead, they lost 7-3 to France in one of the highest-scoring games in World Cup history . They then managed a 3-2 win against Scotland , so there was still a chance of reaching the quarter-finals by beating Yugoslavia . As in the previous two games, the Paraguayans scored three goals, but the Yugoslavs kept putting up one and scoring three too. This meant that Yugoslavia qualified as second in the group for the quarter-finals, where, as in 1954, they failed to Germany. For Paraguay it was the last World Cup game for 28 years. After all, Paraguay was the first team to score three goals in three normal preliminary round matches.

1962 in Chile

Four years later, Paraguay only had to play the winners of the North and Central America qualifiers in qualifying for the World Cup in Chile and lost their first game in Mexico City against Mexico 1-0. A week later it was only enough to go 0-0 in Asunción , which meant that the final round was missed.

1966 in England

For the World Cup in England , in addition to defending champion Brazil, who was automatically qualified, all other nine CONMEBOL members wanted to qualify for the first time . The qualification for the three starting positions was carried out in three groups of three and Paraguay met Argentina and Bolivia . Paraguay could only win the home game in Asunción against Bolivia and in the home game against Argentina a 0-0, but lost both away games and retired as group runner-up.

1970 in Mexico

Again the Paraguayans could not qualify. In a group of four with Brazil , Colombia and Venezuela , Paraguay won all games against Colombia and Venezuela, but lost both games to Brazil, which qualified with six wins in six games and became world champion in Mexico for the third time.

1974 in the Federal Republic of Germany

In qualifying for the World Cup in Germany , Paraguay met Argentina and Bolivia as they did eight years earlier. Paraguay won both games against Bolivia, but only achieved a 1-1 draw against Argentina at home and lost the last decisive game in Buenos Aires 3-1. It was only enough for second place.

1978 in Argentina

The qualification for the World Cup in Argentina was played in two rounds, but Paraguay were eliminated in the first round against Brazil and Colombia. Paraguay only lost the home game against Brazil, but the win in Colombia and two draws were only enough to finish second behind the record world champions, who also prevailed in the second round.

1982 in Spain

The qualification for the World Cup in Spain was even worse . In a group with Chile and Ecuador , Paraguay only finished last, winning only the home game against Ecuador, but losing the other three games. Paraguay won the South American Championship for the second time in 1979 . Even if Paraguay itself was not represented at the World Cup finals, the Post in Paraguay honored the World Cup with a series of postage stamps .

1986 in Mexico

Four years later, the South Americans were entitled to four starting positions at the second World Cup in Mexico. The qualification was carried out over three rounds, whereby the three group winners of the first round qualified directly. Four other teams played from fourth place on the grid. Paraguay was one of these, after only taking second place in the group with Brazil and Bolivia. In the second round they met Colombia. After a 3-0 home game, a 2-1 win in the second leg could be coped with. And also against Chile the home game was won 3-0 in the third round, so that after a 2-2 in the second leg after 28 years the qualification succeeded again.

In Mexico, Paraguay met newcomer Iraq in their first group game and won 1-0. They then scored 1-1 against hosts Mexico and the last group game against Belgium ended in a draw (2-2). This meant that Paraguay qualified for the knockout round for the first time as second in the group. In this they met England , lost 3-0 and thus said goodbye to the World Cup for 12 years.

1990 in Italy

For the second World Cup in Italy , Paraguay was drawn into a qualifying group with Colombia and Ecuador . One point behind Colombia, Paraguay only finished second and was eliminated. As the worst group winner, Colombia still had to compete against the Oceania winner. This was Israel and after a 1-0 home game and a 0-0 second leg, Colombia was able to take part in the World Cup finals for the second time.

1994 in the United States

For the World Cup in the USA , Paraguay was drawn into a qualifying group with Argentina, Colombia and Peru . Surprisingly, the Colombians qualified as group winners ahead of Argentina, which, however, also qualified as group runner-up in the intercontinental playoffs against Australia. Paraguay had only won the home game against Peru, but four draws were not enough despite only one defeat in the home game against Argentina, so that only 3rd place jumped out.

1998 in France

For the soccer World Cup 1998 , all South American teams except defending champion Brazil, who was automatically qualified, competed in a joint group for the first time and played four places in the everyone-against-everyone mode. Paraguay qualified second in the South American group, just one point behind Argentina.

In France, the Paraguayans met Bulgaria, who were fourth in the World Cup, in their first group game and fought 0-0. Even against more highly rated Spaniards a 0-0 was achieved. In the last game, Nigeria , which was already the group winner, was defeated 3-1, so that Paraguay moved into the knockout round as second in the group. Here they met hosts France and kept the 0-0 for 113 minutes, rather Laurent Blanc brought the hosts to the quarter-finals with the first golden goal in World Cup history.

2002 in Japan and South Korea

In qualifying for the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, all 10 South American teams competed again in a common group and played in an all-against-all mode. Paraguay finished fourth behind the Brazilians with the same number of points and qualified directly for the World Cup.

In Asia they met South Africa in their first group game and scored a point 2-2 without the suspended goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert . In the second game they lost 3-1 to Spain. Since South Africa and Spain had won 1-0 and 3-1 respectively against World Cup newcomers Slovenia , the Spaniards were already group winners and the last matchday had to decide who could move into the knockout round as second in the group. Up until the 56th minute it was 2-2 between South Africa and Spain, while Paraguay were down 1-0 against Slovenia and since the 22nd minute after the yellow-red card for Carlos Humberto Paredes, only 10 players had played. This would mean that South Africa would be runners-up and Paraguay the last. Then Raúl scored the 3-2 for Spain, but that would mean South Africa would be even further and since the South Africans assumed it would be enough, they made no move to turn the game around again. In the 65th minute Nelson Cuevas equalized for Paraguay and in the 73rd minute, substitute Jorge Luis Campos scored the 2-1 lead. Paraguay and South Africa had 4 points each, but South Africa 5: 5 and Paraguay 5: 6 goals, which means that South Africa was still better. In the 84th minute, Cuevas then scored the 3: 1 so that Paraguay was 6: 6 goals ahead of South Africa. Since the South Africans were not informed of the score in the parallel game, they continued to assume that it was not necessary to score another goal and then had to accept that it was not them but Paraguay who were second in the group.

In the round of 16 they met Germany for the first time and held the 0-0 up to the 88th minute. Then Oliver Neuville , who converted a cross from Bernd Schneider directly, scored the 1-0 winner. Roberto Acuña received the red card in stoppage time . As a result, Germany continued on their way to the final with 1-0 victories, where the German team lost to Brazil.

2006 in Germany

The Paraguayans were also able to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in Germany . Again they reached 4th place, this time tied behind Ecuador with 23:23 goals.

In Germany they met England in the first group game and lost 1-0 to an own goal by Carlos Gamarra , which fell in the third minute. Paraguay's goalkeeper Justo Villar had to be replaced after just 8 minutes due to an injury. They also lost 1-0 to Sweden , but the goal was not scored until the 89th minute. Paraguay was already eliminated and the last game, which they won 2-0 against newcomers to the World Cup, Trinidad and Tobago , was meaningless . After the preliminary round, coach Aníbal Ruiz , who was named Coach of the Year in South America the year before, was reprimanded for his defensive tactics in the domestic press and dismissed.

2010 in South Africa

Paraguayan fans during the game against Italy

The qualification for the Soccer World Cup 2010 in South Africa went even better. Tied on points with Chile and only one point behind Brazil, they took third place. The qualification was made perfect on the third last match day, September 9th, 2009, with a 1-0 win against Argentina, which only finished fourth.

In South Africa they met defending champions Italy in their first game and after a 1-0 lead they had to accept the 1-1 equalizer. Against World Cup newcomers Slovakia they won 2-0. This meant that Paraguay won the group 0-0 against New Zealand in the last game, as Italy surprisingly lost to Slovakia and were eliminated.

They met Japan in the round of 16 , but neither team scored in 120 minutes, so the decision had to be made on penalties . While all five Paraguayans scored, the Japanese Yūichi Komano shot at the crossbar and the last Japanese did not have to compete. In the quarterfinals, European champions Spain were the opponents. In a game in which both goalkeepers were able to save a penalty from the opposing team, the Spaniards only scored the winning goal in the 83rd minute, with Paraguay saying goodbye to the World Cup for at least twelve years with the best result to date.

2014 in Brazil

In the South America qualification for the second World Cup in neighboring Brazil , Paraguay could not qualify as bottom group. Paraguay had reached the final at the Copa America 2011 and only lost there against Uruguay, who finished fourth in the World Cup. But Paraguay could only win the home games against Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru in qualifying and lost most of the games (10). Already on the third last match day it was clear that Paraguay could no longer qualify. Even changing coaches twice didn't help: In July 2012, Gerardo Pelusso took over from Francisco Arce after five qualifying games and threw in the towel again after just one year, and Víctor Genes was unable to improve it in the last four games. He was followed by Ramón Díaz in December 2014 .

2018 in Russia

In the qualification all 10 CONMEBOL members joined since October 2015 back to home and away matches against each other. The best four teams qualified directly, the fifth must play against a member of another confederation in playoff games. Paraguay started with an away game against Venezuela, the only CONMEBOL team that has never qualified for a World Cup and was the only team to lose their first four games. After a goalless draw against Argentina, a defeat in Peru and a home win against Bolivia, Paraguay only won two of eight games in 2016, but these against Argentina and Chile, the finalists of the last two Copas . In the spring of 2017, one game was won and one lost, so that Paraguay was only eighth before the last four games, five points behind a direct qualification place and four points behind the playoff place. Paraguay was able to win the away games in Chile and Colombia, but lost the home games against Uruguay and bottom-up Venezuela. So in the end only the seventh place remained. Paraguay could even have reached the playoffs against New Zealand with a win in their last game against Venezuela .

Ranking of the Paraguayan World Cup players with the most appearances

01. Denis Caniza and Roque Santa Cruz - 12 each in 4 and 3 tournaments respectively

03. Roberto Acuña and Carlos Gamarra - 11 each in 3 tournaments

05. Carlos Humberto Paredes - 9 out of 3 tournaments

07. Celso Ayala , Julio César Cáceres and Nelson Valdez - 8 each in 3 (Cáceres) and 2 tournaments respectively

Ranking of the Paraguayan World Cup players with the most goals

01. Nelson Cuevas - 3 goals

02. Juan Bautista Agüero , Florencio Amarilla , Roberto Cabañas , José Parodi , Jorgelino Romero and Julio César Romero - 2 goals each

World Cup captains

• 1930: Luis Vargas Peña
• 1950: César López Fretes
• 1958: Juan Bautista Agüero
• 1986: Rogelio Delgado
• 1998 and 2002: José Luis Chilavert , Carlos Gamarra (1st game 2002, as Chilavert was suspended)
• 2006: Carlos Gamarra
• 2010: Justo Villar (1st and 2nd game, round of 16 and quarter-finals) Denis Caniza (3rd game)

Players banned from World Championships

• 1986: Vladimiro Schettina received the second yellow card in the second group game against Mexico and was suspended for the last game.
• 1998: Francisco Arce and Miguel Ángel Benítez received the second yellow card in the round of 16. Since Paraguay was eliminated, these had no effect.
• 2002: José Luis Chilavert was suspended for the first group game after spat on Roberto Carlos in the qualifier against Brazil . Carlos Paredes received the yellow-red card in the last group game and was suspended for the round of 16. In the round of 16, Roberto Acuña received the red card in stoppage time . Since Paraguay was eliminated, this had no effect.
• 2006: Carlos Paredes received the second yellow card in the last group game. Since Paraguay was eliminated, this had no effect.
• 2010: Víctor Cáceres received the second yellow card in the last group game and was suspended for the round of 16 against Japan .

Share of players playing abroad in the World Cup squad

Legionnaires played no role in the first three World Cup squads of the Paraguayans. In 1986 they made up a large part of the players used, after that it was always more than half of the squad. In 1998 and 2010 only three and four players playing in Paraguay were appointed.

Year (games)	Number (countries)	Players (stakes)
1930 (2)	0
1950 (2)	0
1958 (3)	0
1986 (4)	7 (1 Brazil, 5 in Colombia, 1 in Mexico)	Julio Cesar Romero (4); Roberto Cabañas (4), Roberto Fernández (4), Buenaventura Ferreira (4), Alfredo Mendoza (4), Jorge Amado Nunes (4); Adolfino Cañete (4)
1998 (4)	19 (8 in Argentina, 4 in Brazil, 1 in China, 3 in Mexico, 1 in Portugal, 2 in Spain)	Danilo Aceval (0), Celso Ayala (4), Hugo Brizuela (1), José Luis Chilavert (4), Carlos Morales (1), Arístides Rojas (3), Ricardo Rojas (0), Pedro Sarabia (4); Francisco Arce (3), Julio César Enciso (4), Carlos Gamarra (4), Catalino Rivarola (0); Jorge Luis Campos (3); José Saturnino Cardozo (3), Rubén Ruiz Díaz (0), Julio César Yegros (4); Roberto Acuña (4), Miguel Ángel Benítez (4)
2002 (4)	14 (3 in Argentina, 1 in Brazil, 1 in Chile, 1 in Germany, 1 in France, 1 in Greece, 4 in Mexico, 1 in Portugal, 1 in Spain)	Celso Ayala (4), Nelson Cuevas (2), Pedro Sarabia (0); Francisco Arce (4); Jorge Luis Campos (4); Roque Santa Cruz (4); José Luis Chilavert (3); Carlos Gamarra (4); Guido Alvarenga (2), Denis Caniza (4), Diego Gavilán (2), José Saturnino Cardozo (3); Carlos Humberto Paredes (2); Roberto Acuña (4)
2006 (3)	18 (4 in Argentina, 2 in Brazil, 3 in Germany, 2 in Italy, 4 in Mexico, 1 in the Netherlands, 2 in Spain)	Julio César Cáceres (3), Diego Gavilán (0), Jorge Nuñez (3), Justo Villar (1); Carlos Gamarra (3), Julio Manzur (1); Julio dos Santos (2), Roque Santa Cruz (3), Nelson Valdez (3); Dante López (1), Carlos Humberto Paredes (3); Salvador Cabañas (0), Denis Caniza (3), Nelson Cuevas (2), Paulo da Silva (1); Edgar Barreto (2); Roberto Acuña (3), Delio Toledo (1)
2010 (5)	19 (3 ​​in Argentina, 1 in Belgium, 1 in Brazil, 3 in Germany, 1 in Ecuador, 2 in England, 1 in Italy, 1 in Colombia, 4 in Mexico, 1 in Portugal, 1 in Spain)	Claudio Morel (5), Néstor Ortigoza (1), Aureliano Torres (2); Antolin Alcaraz (4); Julio César Cáceres (2); Lucas Barrios (5), Jonathan Santana (2), Nelson Valdez (5); Enrique Vera (5); Paulo da Silva (5), Roque Santa Cruz (5); Edgar Barreto (3); Aldo Bobadilla (0); Edgar Benítez (2), Denis Caniza (1), Cristian Riveros (5); Dario Verón (1); Óscar Cardozo (5); Justo Villar (5)

Games

The Paraguayans have played 27 World Cup games so far. Seven of them were won, ten lost and ten ended in a draw. Two games were extended because a winner had to be determined. One game was then lost in extra time to golden goal and one game was won on penalties .

The Paraguayans never took part in the opening game, but played twice against the hosts: 1986 in the preliminary round and 1998 in the round of 16.

The Paraguayans played twice (1998 and 2010) against the eventual world champions and twice (1950 and 2010) against the defending champions.

The Paraguayans met World Cup newbies three times: 1986 / Iraq, 2002 / Slovenia and 2006 / Trinidad and Tobago.

The most frequent opponents were Spain (3 ×), also Belgium, England, France, Italy, Sweden and Slovenia (each 2 ×).

In the first eight World Cup games, the Paraguayans always met teams they had never played against before. Seven other games were also the first against the respective team.

Like Ecuador, Paraguay never played against a team from its own confederation, but did against teams from any other confederation.

All World Cup games
No.	date	Result	opponent		venue	occasion	Remarks
1	17th July 1930	0: 3	United States	*	Montevideo ( URY )	Preliminary round	First international match against a North American team (USA), 50th international match
2	July 20, 1930	1-0	Belgium	*	Montevideo (URY)	Preliminary round	First international match against a European team (Belgium)
3	June 29, 1950	2: 2	Sweden	*	Curitiba ( BRA )	Preliminary round	First international match against Sweden
4th	02nd July 1950	0: 2	Italy	*	Sao Paulo (BRA)	Preliminary round	First international match against Italy
5	0June 8, 1958	3: 7	France	*	Norrkoping ( SWE )	Preliminary round	First international game against France, first international game outside of South America
6th	June 11, 1958	3: 2	Scotland	*	Norrkoping (SWE)	Preliminary round	First international match against Scotland
7th	June 15, 1958	3: 3	Yugoslavia	*	Eskilstuna (SWE)	Preliminary round	First international match against Yugoslavia
8th	04th June 1986	1-0	Iraq	*	Toluca ( MEX )	Preliminary round	First international game for a South American team against Iraq
9	0June 7, 1986	1: 1	Mexico	A.	Mexico City (MEX)	Preliminary round
10	June 11, 1986	2: 2	Belgium	*	Toluca (MEX)	Preliminary round
11	June 18, 1986	0: 3	England	*	Mexico City (MEX)	Round of 16	First international match against England
12	June 12, 1998	0-0	Bulgaria	*	Montpellier ( FRA )	Preliminary round	First international match against Bulgaria
13	June 19, 1998	0-0	Spain	*	Saint-Etienne (FRA)	Preliminary round	First international match against Spain
14th	June 24, 1998	3: 1	Nigeria	*	Toulouse (FRA)	Preliminary round	First international match against an African team (Nigeria)
15th	June 28, 1998	0: 1 n.v. GG	France	A.	Lens (FRA)	Round of 16
16	0June 2, 2002	2: 2	South Africa	*	Busan ( KOR )	Preliminary round	First international match against South Africa Roberto Acuña becomes Paraguay's record national player with his 79th international match.
17th	0June 7, 2002	1: 3	Spain	*	Jeonju (KOR)	Preliminary round
18th	June 12, 2002	3: 1	Slovenia	*	Seogwipo (KOR)	Preliminary round	First international match against Slovenia
19th	June 15, 2002	0: 1	Germany	*	Seogwipo (KOR)	Round of 16	First international match against Germany
20th	June 10, 2006	0: 1	England	*	Frankfurt am Main ( DEU )	Preliminary round
21st	June 15, 2006	0: 1	Sweden	*	Berlin (DEU)	Preliminary round
22nd	June 20, 2006	2-0	Trinidad and Tobago	*	Kaiserslautern (DEU)	Preliminary round
23	June 14, 2010	1: 1	Italy	*	Cape Town ( ZAF )	Preliminary round
24	June 20, 2010	2-0	Slovenia	*	Bloemfontein (ZAF)	Preliminary round
25th	June 24, 2010	0-0	New Zealand	*	Polokwane (ZAF)	Preliminary round
26th	June 29, 2010	0:. N 0 V. 5: 3 i. E.	Japan	*	Pretoria (ZAF)	Round of 16
27	0July 3, 2010	0: 1	Spain	*	Johannesburg (ZAF)	Quarter finals

Highest victories and defeats

The Paraguayan team achieved their highest victories against the following countries in World Cup tournaments:

•  Belgium : Preliminary round 1930 1-0 (only win against Belgium)
•  Scotland : preliminary round 1958 3-2 (only game against Scotland)
•  Iraq : 1986 1-0 preliminary round (only game against Iraq)
•  Nigeria : Preliminary round 1998 3-1 (only win against Nigeria)
•  Slovenia : 2002 3-1 preliminary round (only game against Slovenia)
•  Trinidad and Tobago : Preliminary round 2006 2-0 (only win against Trinidad and Tobago)
•  Slovakia : Preliminary round 2010 2-0 (only game against Slovakia)

The Paraguayan team suffered their biggest defeats in World Cup tournaments against the following countries:

•  Germany : Round of 16 2002 0-1 (only defeat against Germany)
•  Italy : Preliminary round 1950 0: 2 (also a 1: 3 in a friendly game in 1998)
•  Spain : 2002 preliminary round 1: 3
•  Sweden : Preliminary round 2006 0-1 (only loss to Sweden)
•  United States : Preliminary round 1930 0-3

Negative records

• First team to lose to a golden goal at a World Cup: Laurent Blanc (France) scored 1-0 for France in the round of 16 at the 1998 World Cup against Paraguay.
• First South American champion who could not qualify for the World Cup: 1954
• The substitution of Paraguay's goalkeeper Villar in the 8th minute of the 2006 group game against England was the earliest goalkeeper change in World Cup history.

References and footnotes

1. ↑ Won one game on penalties.
2. ↑ The placements from 5th place onwards were determined by FIFA without any placement games. See: All-time FIFA World Cup Ranking 1930-2014 (PDF; 200 kB)
3. ↑ In 1954, Germany was able to score at least three goals per game in the preliminary round in two preliminary round matches (4: 1 against Turkey and 3: 8 against Hungary) and the play-off against Turkey (7: 2).
4. ↑ Germany v. Paraguay (1-0), World Cup 2002
5. ↑ 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea Japan - Germany vs Paraguay
6. ↑ rsssf.com: "(South) American Coach of the Year 2005"
7. ↑ chilavert vs r. carlos