Paraguay seeks to seal before the equator the collar which would return it to a World Cup after 16 years of absence

Santiago (AP) – Paraguay will seek to seal its pass at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States 2026 Thursday, when you receive an equator already classified at home and against whom you only need a draw to reach the desired and return to the world event after 16 years of absence.

Those commissioned by the Argentinian Gustavo Alfaro are in the fifth position of the South American qualifications with 24 points, therefore a victory or a draw at the stadium of Defensores del Chaco de Asunción would ensure the participation of the Albirroja in the planetary competition for the first time since 2010.

“This is a final example of certain qualifications. There are not two games that we play. For everyone, this moment is very important,” said Alfaro at a press conference on Wednesday. “We are faced with the expectation of playing a transcendent game, before a selection of hierarchy, and this is already classified,” he finished.

Since the arrival of Argentinian on the Paraguayan bench, the Albirrojos have made their true fort heard, with so much defeat at home. However, the technician will have to resolve certain puzzles in the midst of multiple victims due to an injury that undertakes the team, including his Julio Enciso Jewel, who is barely recovered from surgery at the knee to which he was submitted last July.

One possibility for its replacement is Ángel Romero, who would command the offensive part next to Antonio Sanabria.

Defense Fabian Balbuena, midfielder Mathias Villasanti and striker Isidro Pitta, all wounded, therefore Alfaro will also have to make adjustments in the last and a half rows of the Guaraní field will also be on a low date.

For its part, the equator arrives in Asunción as the second best selection in Latin America and with the tranquility of being already classified in North America 2026. The set led by Argentinian Sebastián Beccacece occupies second place of the table with 25 points, the product of 7 victories, 7 prints and only 2 losses.

In the Paraguayan capital, sorting is confident in maintaining its defensive force, which has become its strong point and ensured the less whipped defense of the continent. On the other hand, the rating account is the Achilles tendon of the equates, which will seek in Paraguay a triumph after a sequence of three consecutive prints.

The task, however, will not be easy because the sorting has never managed to win, not even linked to the guarani in the visitor’s state.

“Now we have to think of Paraguay, where we have never won or added a point,” he said at a press conference before the trip to the South American country Beccacece, who avoided referring to the expectations of the World Cup, ensuring that it is time to focus on the present.

In this sense, he declared that the team was “aware” of the level and the “difficulty” of his rivals, so he underlined that he was facing commitments with the “responsibility” to prepare “the best possible” towards the World Cup. “The right thing is that now we no longer play for this obligation of results,” said the Argentinian.

With the already guaranteed classification, the Beccaces must try new formats and faces in the field, therefore emerging names, such as the young Kendry Páez, 18 -year -again promised and Denil Castillo, must add minutes with the tricolor shirt. On the other hand, he must continue to bet on some of his strong men, such as the Moisée Caicedo midfielder and give Valence, the top scorer in the equator.

– Possible alignment of Paraguay: Roberto Junior Fernández; Juan Cáceres, Gustavo Gómez, Omar Alderete, Junior Alonso; Diego Gómez, Andrés Cubas, Matías Galarza, Miguel Almirón; Ángel Romero and Antonio Sanabria.

– possible alignment of the equator: Hernán Galíndez; Pervis Estupiñán, Piero Imphase, Willian Pacho, Joel Ordóñez; Moisés Caicedo, Pedro quickly, Denil Castillo; Nilson Angulo, Enner Valencia and Gonzalo Plata.