Türkiye and Paraguay meet each other knowing that this is a must-win fixture for both sides if they want to keep their hopes of knockout qualification alive after suffering damaging defeats in their respective openers in Group D of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Anything less than a win here could spell the end for either side.
For the game, here we present our preview and prediction.
Türkiye entered the World Cup fancying their chances against a seemingly unheralded Australia side. Such was the confidence in their ranks that captain Hakan Calhanoglu went on record saying that his team would dominate the Aussies with ease.
What transpired was anything but domination, as the Turks slumped to a damaging 2–0 defeat. It always felt like they were a step behind their opponents right from the outset. They did improve after the break with the introduction of the usually dangerous Kenan Yildiz, but his pressure counted for nought as they went 2–0 down, ceding the game to their opponents.
Türkiye coach Vincenzo Montella will be very disappointed with his side’s performance, given that they were outrun by an Australia side that they should have gotten the better of. A huge improvement in performance is needed if they are to stay alive in the competition.
As far as Paraguay are concerned, despite them staying as competitive as they could against hosts USA, they were soundly beaten at the end of the day, with the 4–1 scoreline feeling like a just result given the way things panned out in the game.
Paraguay could not deal with the rapidity and verticality of the US attack and were opened up every time the USMNT had the ball; every opportunity felt like a scoring opportunity. In fact, there was a decent period of 20–25 minutes in the second half where Paraguay did see a lot of the ball and also scored their goal, and it was a well-executed one. But they will need to be more organised and disciplined at the back to stand a chance of making more of their presence at the World Cup.
Both sides know that nothing less than a victory will suffice here, and both will approach the fixture the same way. Ultimately, we believe Türkiye are the favourites and will win this match.
Score Prediction: Türkiye 3–0 Paraguay
Venue: San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, Santa Clara, California, USA
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