Eight World Cups before 2026 (1930, 1950, 1958, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010); 2026 is the ninth, ending a 16-year absence — the longest in their history
The wonderkid (b. Jan 2004) whose 25-yard rocket against Manchester City won the Premier League Goal of the Season in 2023. Technically gifted, fearless, and billed as the future of Paraguayan football — the one to set an alarm for.
Paraguay's record appearance-maker; a fixture at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 World Cups
All-time top scorer and totemic No. 9 across four World Cup cycles
⚠ The most-used eleven in recent matches under Gustavo Alfaro (June 2026) — a snapshot of recent form, never a forecast.
| PLAYER | POS | ERA | CAPS | GLS | FILE NOTE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| José Luis Chilavert #1 | GK | 1989–2003 | 74 | 8 | The goalkeeper who took the free-kicks. Eight international goals and a glare that could stop a striker mid-thought. |
| Roque Santa Cruz #9 | FW | 1999–2016 | 112 | 32 | Record scorer and gentle giant of the line. Four World Cup squads, one beloved No. 9. |
| Carlos Gamarra #14 | CB | 1993–2006 | 110 | 12 | Captain, rock, and metronome at the back — the spine of three World Cup sides. |
| Paulo da Silva #2 | CB | 2000–2017 | 148 | 3 | Record caps. If Paraguay played it, da Silva was probably marking the centre-forward. |
| Julio César Romero #10 | AM | 1979–1991 | 32 | 13 | Romerito — South American Footballer of the Year 1985 and the artist of the 1986 run. |
| Justo Villar #1 | GK | 1999–2018 | 120 | 0 | The unflappable keeper behind the 2010 quarter-final and the shoot-out hero against Japan. |
| José Saturnino Cardozo #11 | FW | 1991–2006 | 82 | 25 | Lethal poacher and second-highest scorer in the nation's history. |
| Roberto Acuña #5 | CM | 1993–2011 | 100 | 5 | Toro — the engine in midfield who ran for ninety minutes and then ran some more. |
| Salvador Cabañas #19 | FW | 2004–2009 | 44 | 10 | Talismanic striker of the late-2000s side, his career cut tragically short in 2010. |
| Cristian Riveros #8 | CM | 2005–2018 | 101 | 16 | Scored the goal that beat Japan's resistance in 2010 and quietly stacked a century of caps. |
A defence with a flag stitched into it. Paraguay don't dazzle so much as suffocate — two Copa Américas, an Olympic silver, and a 2010 quarter-final all built on a back line that treats a clean sheet as a moral victory. Sixteen years away and they walk back in conceding nothing; an opponent's patience-tester, and a historian's quiet favourite.