Overview
Turkey and Paraguay enter the confrontation in San Francisco with enormous pressure as both teams are not allowed to stumble if they want to nurture hopes of winning a ticket to the knockout round of the 2026 World Cup.
In the opening match, Paraguay suffered a heavy 1-4 defeat to the host team USA, while Turkey disappointed when losing to Australia 0-2 despite creating a superior game.
Vincenzo Montella's team probably still does not understand why they could not score against Australia. Turkey made up to 71 passes through the line, the most in a World Cup match since 2010, and also launched 30 shots, of which Arda Guler contributed 8 shots.
However, all efforts were rejected by goalkeeper Patrick Beach. The Australian goalkeeper had up to 8 saves, the best record of a goalkeeper in his first World Cup appearance since Turkish legend Rustu Recber made 9 saves against Brazil in 2002.
The defeat to Australia also ended Turkey's 8-match unbeaten streak in all competitions. However, history is on the side of the red shirt team as they have never lost 2 consecutive matches since March 2024.
On the other side, Paraguay also experienced a forgettable match against the USA. Gustavo Alfaro's team is famous for its certainty in the South American qualifying campaign, where they once defeated both Argentina and Brazil, but completely collapsed under the pressure of the home team.
Paraguay was down 0-3 in the first half, more than the total number of goals they conceded in the first half of the previous 16 World Cup matches combined. They also lost the ball 16 times, the highest number since 1966.
Now, La Albirroja must win if they do not want to face the risk of being eliminated early. In history, Paraguay has only lost once in both opening matches of the World Cup, in 2006 when they successively succumbed to England and Sweden.
However, statistics do not favor the South American representative as they have only won 2 of their last 14 encounters with European teams at the World Cup.
Paraguay's hope continues to be placed on Julio Enciso's shoulders. The 22-year-old striker has just become Paraguay's youngest player to contribute to a goal at the World Cup since Roque Santa Cruz in 2002.
In the opposite direction, Turkey is loyal to controlling the ball and deploying a methodical attack under the coordination of captain Hakan Calhanoglu.
Head-to-head record
Head-to-head history does not provide much reference data for this match as Turkey and Paraguay have only met once before.
That was a friendly match held in Chile in June 1995, ending in a 0-0 draw. Therefore, the match at the 2026 World Cup will mark the first time the two teams have faced each other in an official tournament, and also the first confrontation between them on the World Cup stage.
Score prediction: Turkey 1-1 Paraguay
The match between Turkey and Paraguay takes place at 10:00 AM on June 20 (Vietnam time).
