Overview
Paraguay and Australia will compete directly for a ticket to the 1/16 round of the 2026 World Cup when they face each other in the last round of Group D at the San Francisco stadium. Both have 3 points after two matches and are aiming for the goal of reaching the knockout round with the top team USA.
Australia entered the match with an advantage in goal difference, meaning they only needed a draw to maintain second place. Meanwhile, Paraguay must win if they want to be sure to advance. The third-placed team still has a chance to participate in the round of 16, but will have to wait for results from other groups.
After a heavy 1-4 defeat to the USA in the opening match, Paraguay promptly stood up with a brave 1-0 victory over Turkey, despite having to play with only 10 players after Miguel Almiron's red card.
Matias Galarza's early goal was enough to bring back 3 valuable points. Paraguay also set a remarkable milestone by keeping a clean sheet despite suffering 32 shots, something that had never happened at the World Cup since North Korea defeated Italy in 1966.
Julio Enciso is their biggest hope in attack. After assisting in the match against the USA and continuing to contribute to the victory against Turkey, the 22-year-old striker became the youngest player in Paraguay's history to assist in 2 consecutive World Cup matches. If he continues to assist against Australia, Enciso will be the first player to do so in all 3 group stage matches since Michael Ballack at the 2002 World Cup.
Miguel Almiron's absence due to suspension makes Enciso's creative role even more important in the goal of helping Paraguay win two victories in the group stage of a World Cup for the first time.
On the opposite side, Australia also needs to quickly regain their spirit after the 0-2 defeat to co-host USA. Before that, they had a favorable start with a victory with the same score against Turkey.
The defeat against the USA came from Cameron Burgess' own goal and Alex Freeman's goal. That was also Australia's third own goal in World Cup history.
What coach Tony Popovic is most worried about is the attacking ability. After averaging 13.2 shots per game in four World Cups from 2006 to 2018, Australia only had an average of 6.7 shots per game in the last two World Cups. They only launched a meager 5 shots against the USA.
Although only needing a draw to secure a ticket to the next round, Australia understands that they must significantly improve their attacking efficiency if they want to go deep and realize the goal of participating in the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time.
Head-to-head record
This will be the first time Paraguay and Australia have faced each other in an official match.
Australia is dominant in head-to-head record when unbeaten in all five previous encounters with Paraguay, with two wins and three draws.
Score prediction: Paraguay 1-1 Australia
The match between Paraguay and Australia takes place at 9:00 am on June 26 (Vietnam time).
