JAKARTA - Paraguay maintained their chances of qualifying from Group D of the 2026 World Cup after defeating Turkey with a score of 1-0 in a match at the Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California, USA, Saturday WIB.
Matias Galarza's goal in the second minute was the difference in the match. Galarza fired a left foot shot that failed to reach goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir to give Paraguay an early lead.
Turkey tried to respond by controlling the ball more, but Paraguay was able to keep the defense to maintain the lead.
Paraguay's situation became more difficult before halftime after Miguel Almiron received a direct red card. The decision was given after a VAR review because Almiron was judged to have committed a foul in a confrontation with Mert Muldur.
Overwhelming the number of players in the second half, Turkey increased the pressure to find the equalizer. However, a number of opportunities obtained by Arda Guler and his friends have not been able to break the Paraguay goal.
One of Turkey's best opportunities came through a header from Mert Muldur that hit the crossbar and the goalpost. Paraguay finally managed to keep the lead until the end of the match.
This victory makes Paraguay collect three points from two Group D matches, while Turkey has not scored any points after swallowing two consecutive defeats.
This result keeps Paraguay's chances of competing for a ticket to the knockout phase, while Turkey is in a difficult position ahead of the last match of the group stage.
The line-up
Turkey (4-2-3-1): Ugurcan Cakir; Mert Muldur, Merih Demiral, Abdülkerim Bardakci(Orkun Kokcu), Ferdi Kadioglu(Eren Elmali); Ismail Yuksek(Can Uzun), Hakan Calhanoglu; Yunus Akgun(Deniz Gul), Arda Guler, Kenan Yildiz; Kerem Akturkoglu(Baris Alper Yilmaz)
Paraguay (4-42): Orlando Gill; Juan Caceres (Alexandro Maidana), Gustavo Gomez, Omar Alderete, Junior Alonso; Miguel Almiron (KM), Andres Cubas, Matias Galarza (Jose Canale), Diego Gomez (Gustavo Velzquez); Julio Enciso (Gabriel Avalos), Isidro Pitta (Damian Bobadilla)
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