Las Arpas have had a busy week. The Paraguayan Gaelic football team woke up in Asuncion on Sunday morning and went to bed on Tuesday in Ireland. By Thursday afternoon on 9 July they had already played, and won, a friendly exhibition match and then their iconic candy cane stripe jersey was presented to the EPIC museum (The Irish Emigration Museum) to be put on exhibition at a later date. All of this in preparation for the Gaelic Football World Games, hosted every 3-4 years. The 2026 edition is taking place in Waterford, Ireland from 13 to 17 July.
What you need to know about the Gaelic Football World Games
Gaelic football originated in Ireland and is a unique sport combining elements of rugby and football where players can carry the ball with their hands but points are primarily scored with their feet by either beating the goalkeeper for three points, or kicking it through the uprights for one point.
Unlike in the football (soccer) world cup, Gaelic football teams are allowed to compete as long as they represent a region, not necessarily an entire country. So, while many teams are the classic representations of their countries (like Paraguay, Germany, Italy and Zambia), the format allows for teams like Quebec, San Francisco, and Australasia to also field teams.
The competition has strict rules that prevent Irish-born players from representing any of the teams in the “International” section because the Irish are, simply put, too good at the sport to maintain a level playing field.
Largest World Games tournament ever
The international section has 36 teams making it the largest version of this event in its 11-year history. All first-time participants in the World Games are automatically placed in division three of the international section, which is where Paraguay will compete for that reason.
“I do not think division three is the weakest division,” says Patrick Mc Enroy, head coach of Las Arpas. “We are on equal footing with the Argentinian team in division one, and there will be other teams of that caliber also making their World Games debut in our division.”
Paraguay’s group stage draw
What lays ahead for Las Arpas will begin to reveal itself on Monday, 13 July, when the tournament begins. With 14 teams in division three, the squads have been divided into two groups of seven. Paraguay will play each team in its group once, with the top team in each group advancing straight to the semifinals. Second and third place finishers after the group stage will play in a quarterfinal to determine who advances to the semis.
Paraguay’s group contains teams from Italy, USA, Spain, Ireland, France and a regional team of players from Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
The Irish team (Na Gaeil Nua) is a club based out of Dublin that is made up of players who were born in Latin America and later moved to Ireland. Given these ties to the region, the club invited Las Arpas to train with them and play a friendly exhibition match on 9 July. While it was not an official match, the Paraguayan side came out on top by a score of 14-6.
“Our club was founded in 2024 but we have only had a 13-man squad since March 2025,” says Mc Enroy. “We have worked so hard to get here and are so passionate about the sport. In May, we became the first non-Argentinian team to win a regional tournament in South America.”
Las Arpas schedule
Each group stage game is played with nine players on the field for each team in two halves of twelve minutes. The final is extended to fifteen-minute halves. Paraguay’s games are as follows:
Monday, 13 July
- · Paraguay vs Benelux (Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg) at 13:00 (09:00 PY),
- · Paraguay vs Na Gaeil Nua (Ireland) at 15:00 (11:00 PY).
Tuesday, 14 July
- · Paraguay vs Michael Collins (USA) at 09:30 (05:30 PY),
- · Paraguay vs Europe Wolves (France) at 12:30 (08:30 PY).
Wednesday, 15 July
- · Paraguay vs Catalunya (Spain) at 10:30 (06:30 PY),
- · Paraguay vs Italy at 15:00 (11:00 PY).
Thursday, 16 July
- · 2nd in Group A vs 3rd in Group B (Quarterfinal),
- · 3rd in Group A vs 2nd in Group B (Quarterfinal),
- · 1st in Group A vs QF winner (Semifinal),
- · 1st in Group B vs QF winner (Semifinal).
Friday, 17 July
- · Final at 15:00 (11:00 PY) (time to be confirmed).
Follow Las Arpas on Instagram to keep updated on results and tournament drama. Games are not televised. The Gaelic Football World Games finals on Friday will be broadcast live, available on YouTube.
