Miguel Almiron and Paraguay are headed to the 2026 World Cup. Paraguay punched their ticket with a 0-0 draw against Ecuador in Asunción.
Paraguay entered Thursday’s match needing just a point in their final two matches for CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying — against Ecuador at home or at Peru on Tuesday — to qualify for the tournament for the first time since 2010. La Albirroja drew Italy, defeated Slovakia, and drew New Zealand in the group stage before winning in penalties against Japan in the Round of 16, but fell 1-0 to eventual champion Spain in the quarterfinals.
Almiron was a teenager with Cerro Porteño’s academy the last time Paraguay was in a World Cup. Now, sixteen years later, he’ll play in one of his own.
CONMEBOL’s six automatic qualifiers are now set: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia, and Paraguay. Venezuela, a 3-0 loser to Argentina, remained in seventh place and in contention for a spot in the inter-confederation playoff heading into Tuesday’s match against Colombia. Ronald Hernandez was not in the lineup for Tuesday’s match.
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[…] biggest career achievement came in early September as he helped his native Paraguay qualify for its first World Cup since 2010. Regardless of how things have fared at the club level, though, his sentiments about Atlanta […]
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Our old friend Thiago Almada assisted on one of Messi’s goals versus Venezuela.