Our Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 team previews continue with Paraguay.
La Albirroja had not qualified for the biggest stage since 2010. That was their fourth successive appearance dating back to 1998, and they reached the knockout stage on three of those occasions.
Under head coach Gustavo Alfaro, they’ll be in arguably the most even-looking bracket, one without any heavyweights or minnows. According to the bookies’ odds, Paraguay are only Group D’s third-best nation. But two-thirds of teams in this position will still qualify for the round of 32.
In these country-by-country guides, we’ll be looking at the best players from each nation, reviewing the road to the World Cup and more.
THE PARAGUAY SQUAD
Two of the 26-man squad are current Premier League players – Diego Gomez ($6.8m) and Omar Alderete ($4.1m) – while Gustavo Caballero ($4.2m) has just been on loan at Championship side Portsmouth.
A few of you may remember defender Fabian Balbuena ($4.0m), at West Ham United between 2018 and 2021, while ex-Nottingham Forest winger Ramon Sosa ($5.3m) scored one top-flight goal in 2024/25.
- READ MORE: All 48 final squads for the World Cup
Other familiar names are Miguel Almiron ($6.0m) – now back at Atlanta United – plus former Brighton and Hove Albion attacker Julio Enciso ($6.6m). The 22-year-old is now at Strasbourg, meaning we’ll likely see him at Chelsea one day…
THE ROAD TO QUALIFICATION
In truth, the expanded World Cup format makes it hard not to qualify from CONMEBOL. Even seventh-placed Bolivia had a second stab at it, via the inter-confederation play-offs.
But it didn’t look so easy when Paraguay collected just five points (and one goal) from the first six encounters. However, after a nine-month break in proceedings, they impressively rallied to get 23 points from the remaining 12, losing only to Brazil after beating them previously.
Matches weren’t easy on the eye – just Ecuador were involved in fewer goals than these 24 – but that’s partly because of a solid defence that kept 10 clean sheets, allowing the joint-second fewest goals (10) and third fewest shots (170).
And, although only Peru and Chile scored less often, Alfaro’s side did hit the woodwork 10 times.
BIGGEST GOAL THREATS IN QUALIFICATION
*note: the xG in the above table is non-penalty
Paraguay deserve praise for being a gritty, physical team with a great work ethic, but not for their goal scoring.
Nobody exceeded Antonio Sanabria‘s ($6.5m) four strikes. Three of those came as a substitute, and it ended up as a big expected goals (xG) overachievement (+2.47). Whereas Almiron should have netted 2.19 times instead of once.
Enciso and Sosa shot most often (23 times), the former taking both penalties (with a 50/50 record).
MOST CREATIVE PLAYERS
As for setting up attempts, Diego Gomez was the sole player to assist more than once, despite Almiron leading the way for key passes (21) and expected assists (xA, 1.34).
Gomez and Almiron should share corner-kicks.
SINCE QUALIFICATION
| Date | Opposition | Competition | Result | Goalscorers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 October 2025 | v Japan (a) | Friendly | 2-2 | Almiron, D Gomez |
| 14 October 2025 | v South Korea (a) | Friendly | 0-2 | |
| 15 November 2025 | v United States (a) | Friendly | 1-2 | Arce |
| 18 November 2025 | v Mexico (n) | Friendly | 2-1 | Sanabria, Bobadilla |
| 27 March 2026 | v Greece (a) | Friendly | 1-0 | D Gomez |
| 31 March 2026 | v Morocco (n) | Friendly | 1-2 | Caballero |
| 5 June 2026 | v Nicaragua (h) | Friendly | 4-0 | Romero pen, Almiron, Galarza, Maidana |
The team flew out to Asia last October, twice being pegged back by Japan, before losing to South Korea.
A month later, they had a mixed time versus co-hosts United States and Mexico, as both matches ended 2-1.
Diego Gomez secured a 1-0 over Greece in March, but swiftly losing to Morocco meant the South Americans kept only two clean sheets from seven friendlies. Furthermore, having conceded multiple times in just two of 18 qualifiers, it happened on four of these more recent occasions.
The final pre-tournament kickabout, against Nicaragua, saw Paraguay finish their preparations on a high, not that the nation ranked 131st in the world is any proper test of what’s to come.
Enciso was stretchered off in that match but Alfaro didn’t sound too negative after full-time:
“Hopefully, it’s nothing serious and just the result of an impact, and that we can keep him and get him back to full fitness.
“He suffered a double injury: first to his side and then to his lower back, which affected his quadriceps. He got scared and he had to come off.” – Gustavo Alfaro, via BBC Sport
The final XI was a good steer of what’s to come in Round 1, although there is uncertainty between the posts:
Above image from BBC Sport
Alejandro ‘Kaku’ Romero (£4.7m) interestingly took – and scored – a penalty in this match ahead of Enciso, Almiron and Sanabria.
WORLD CUP FIXTURES
As our colour-coded Fixture Ticker betrays, these four nations could reasonably finish in any order.
Paraguay’s first match is in Los Angeles against a pumped-up United States. Then, it’s the potential dark horses, Turkey.
For Fantasy managers, perhaps the slightly ‘better’ opponent is Australia. Those using a Wildcard in Round 3 essentially have a Free Hit (in Fantasy Premier League terms) and could target Paraguay assets at that moment.
TOP FANTASY PICKS
Right now, no Paraguay players have an ownership above 0.4%, which says they barely appeal due to uninspiring fixtures and a lack of goals.
But on the plus side, they all qualify for Scouting Bonus rewards.
Julio Enciso ($6.6m) is Paraguay’s most gifted player. Although he netted just four times in 44 league games at Brighton, a long-ranger against Manchester City won numerous ‘Goal of the Season’ awards and ranked third in that year’s FIFA Puskas Award.
He scored an even better one when on loan at Ipswich Town in late 2024/25, before embarking on a season of 12 goals and nine assists (across all competitions) at Strasbourg.
Boosting Enciso’s Fantasy World Cup appeal is the possibility of taking penalties, although Kaku – not a regular starter for Paraguay over the years – threw a spanner in those works against Nicaragua. Enciso is also listed as a midfielder, so gets an extra point for every goal scored.
A scorer of spectacular goals rather than a spectacular scorer of goals, both of his non-penalty strikes in qualifying came from outside the box:
We await to hear whether Friday’s injury is a serious one or not but as many Fantasy managers won’t be interested in Paraguay players till Round 3 anyway, it gives him three weeks to get fit.
There’s still a Paraguayan at the Seagulls, of course.
Diego Gomez ($6.8m) is the man in question. The Brighton midfielder, Enciso and Miguel Almiron ($6.0m) have typically been part of a floating three that play behind centre-forward Antonio Sanabria ($6.5m).
Cheaper than his midfield colleagues, Almiron should be a nailed-on starter and boasted the team’s best during qualifiers for non-penalty xG and xA.
However, Gomez should be on direct free-kicks and made an eye-catching number of tackles in qualifying, so he could pick up bonus points from a variety of routes (the key pass bonus is another one).
For investment in their tight backline, everyone is cheap. Three of the four first-choice defenders – Omar Alderete ($4.1m), Junior Alonso ($4.1m) and long-throw specialist Juan Caceres ($3.8m) – are bargains. Alderete had more shots (12) and scored more goals (two) in qualifying than any other Paraguay defender.
Costing even less is goalkeeper Orlando Gill ($3.5m), who was thought to be favourite between the sticks for the World Cup – but a final pre-tournament friendly start for veteran Roberto Fernandez ($4.0m) is maybe enough to stay clear of the ‘keepers for now.
