Gustavo Alfaro Leads Paraguay - Nicaragua Final Tune-Up Before 2026
Paraguay - Nicaragua was played Friday at 19:15 at the Defensores del Chaco, giving Paraguay its last warm-up match before the 2026 World Cup. Gustavo Alfaro used the final tune-up to sort a lineup that was expected to lean on most of his regular starters.
Defensores del Chaco Before Group D
The match carried more weight than a routine friendly because Paraguay had returned to the FIFA World Cup after 16 years and was about to open Group D. The stadium was expected to be full, and the squad was set to move straight from this final test into the tournament stretch that begins on Friday the 12th in Inglewood.
Alfaro did not confirm the starting eleven, but the projected side included Gatito Fernández; Juan Cáceres, Gustavo Gómez, Omar Alderete and Junior Alonso; Diego Gómez, Alejandro Romero Gamarra and Andrés Cubas; Miguel Almirón, Julio Enciso and Antonio Sanabria. That shape pointed to a lineup built around continuity rather than late experimentation, with the coach choosing his closest match-day group for the final rehearsal.
Junior Alonso And The World Cup Return
Junior Alonso captured the mood around Paraguay’s return with a line aimed squarely at the tournament: “Vamos a dejar el alma en la Copa del Mundo”. The quote fit a camp that had already cleared one major hurdle by getting back to the event after 16 years, even after an uneven qualifying path.
That return now drops Paraguay into Group D against the United States, Turkey and Australia. The schedule is tight: Friday the 12th in Inglewood, Saturday the 20th in Santa Clara and Thursday the 25th back in Santa Clara for the group closer. After Friday’s match, the players were to be released until Saturday night, a brief pause before the World Cup build-up resumes.
Alexandro Maidana summed up the setting from inside the stadium: “Fue una noche soñada”. For Paraguay, the night was less about nostalgia than getting the final details right before a return to the World Cup stage that has been 16 years in the making.
