Paraguay national football team coach, Gustavo Alfaro, announced a 27-man squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifying matches. The team will face Ecuador and Peru in crucial fixtures that will determine The Albirroja’s qualification for the FIFA World Cup 2026. The match against Ecuador that could secure Paraguay’s World Cup return will be played on Thursday, 4 September, 2025, at 20:30 hours in Asunción’s Estadio Defensores del Chaco. The stadium opens at 16:30 hours.
Paraguay is on the verge of clinching a spot in the 2026 World Cup, something Ecuador has already accomplished. Gustavo Alfaro’s squad remains unbeaten in Asunción and aims to extend that record to officially secure World Cup qualification, marking Paraguay’s first appearance in 16 years.
Paraguay’s prospects
Paraguay will clinch World Cup qualification on Matchday 17 of 18 on Thursday 4 September against Ecuador if:
- They win or draw versus Ecuador.
- They lose against Ecuador and Venezuela do not beat Argentina.
- They lose against Ecuador, Venezuela beat Argentina, and Colombia do not beat Bolivia.
New faces and key absents
For Alfaro, the match means a reunion with Ecuador, the team he managed as head coach between 2020 and 2023. Several new faces appear in Alfaro’s selection for the games against Ecuador and Peru. These include Alexis Duarte of Spartak Moscow (soon to be Santos in Brazil), Alan Benítez of Internacional (Brazil), Braian Ojeda who plays for Real Salt Lake in the United States, Rolando Martínez, a forward for Argentinian club Platense, and Olimpia attacker Adrián Alcaráz.
Isidro Pitta, Ronaldo Dejesús, Mathías Villasanti, Julio Enciso, Hugo Cuenca, and Fabián Balbuena are absent due to various reasons. With Balbuena sidelined by a fibula injury, Omar Alderete is positioned as Paraguay’s critical defensive force. The 28-year-old centre-back, who joined the English Premier League side Sunderland from La Liga’s Getafe in August 2025, has already made a significant impact at the English team.
“Go Paraguay”
A key absence for Paraguay in this crucial match for Paraguay’s World Cup return is undoubtedly Julio Enciso. He recently transferred from Brighton & Hove Albion in England to French side Strasbourg. On social media the 21-year-old shared a heartfelt message of support for his teammates. United in their shared dream of guiding Paraguay back to the World Cup.
“Today I have to cheer from the sidelines, I won’t be at these matches. But my strength, my heart, and my voice are with you, with the Albirroja. We are very close to fulfilling that dream, very close to the World Cup. An entire country is pushing you! Go Paraguay, let us all support you together!,” Enciso wrote.
Paraguay’s World Cup return in reach
In their previous World Cup qualifier, Paraguay suffered a narrow defeat in their eagerly anticipated match against Brazil, losing 1-0. While Uruguay’s 2-0 win against Venezuela that same night sparked Paraguay’s World Cup qualification prospects, The Albirroja’s loss against the Canarinho in São Paulo did not. The upside is Paraguay can now secure qualification officially on home soil.
The Paraguayan Football Association (APF) has confirmed a sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans for the match against Ecuador at the iconic Defensores del Chaco stadium. The final 5,000 tickets were snapped up in under an hour, despite technical issues causing the ticketing platform to crash.
Following the Ecuador match, The Albirroja will travel to Lima to face Peru on Tuesday, 9 September, at 20:30 in the Estadio Nacional.
