Paraguay’s World Cup campaign came back to life Friday night under coach Costa Rican fans know all too well. Gustavo Alfaro, the Argentine manager who led Costa Rica through Copa América 2024 before taking over Paraguay later that year, guided La Albirroja to a tense 1-0 win over Turkey in Santa Clara, California. The result gave Paraguay its first points of the 2026 World Cup, eliminated Turkey, and turned Group D into one of the more intriguing fights for second place.
The match was decided almost immediately. MatÃas Galarza scored after just 64 seconds, driving a low shot from distance to give Paraguay the fastest goal of the tournament so far. What followed was not pretty, but it was exactly the kind of survival match Alfaro has built much of his reputation around.
Paraguay had to defend the lead with 10 men after Miguel Almirón was sent off in first-half stoppage time. Turkey pushed through the second half, but Paraguay held on, recovering from its 4-1 opening loss to the United States and keeping its knockout hopes alive.
For those of us here in Costa Rica, the Alfaro connection is hard to miss. He coached La Sele for nine months, including Copa América 2024, where Costa Rica beat Paraguay 2-1 in Austin but still exited in the group stage. Weeks later, he left the Costa Rican job. By August 2024, he had taken charge of Paraguay.
Now he has Paraguay one match from possible advancement. Paraguay will close the group stage against Australia on June 25 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Australia also has three points after losing 2-0 to the United States earlier Friday, making that match a likely direct fight for survival.
The United States, meanwhile, became the first team in Group D to book its place in the Round of 32. Playing without injured star Christian Pulisic, the co-hosts beat Australia 2-0 in Seattle behind an early Cameron Burgess own goal and a 43rd-minute header from Alex Freeman.
The win gives the U.S. six points from two matches and continues a strong start to its home World Cup. For Australia, the defeat erased some of the cushion from its opening win over Turkey and raised the stakes for its final group match against Paraguay. Latin America also had a major moment in Group C, where Brazil steadied itself with a 3-0 win over Haiti in Philadelphia. Matheus Cunha scored twice, VinÃcius Júnior added the third, and Brazil moved to four points after opening the tournament with a draw against Morocco.
The result eliminated Haiti, whose return to the World Cup was its first since 1974. Haiti showed energy and pride, but Brazil’s first-half quality ended the contest early.
Morocco also took control of Group C with a 1-0 win over Scotland in Foxborough. Ismael Saibari scored after 71 seconds, briefly setting the fastest-goal mark before Galarza topped it later in the night for Paraguay. Morocco now sits level with Brazil on four points and remains firmly in the race to win the group.
For those of us in Latin American, Friday brought mixed outcomes but clear stakes. Paraguay found a lifeline. Brazil found rhythm. Haiti’s dream ended early. And Alfaro, once our coach, now has another national team believing it can fight its way through the World Cup the hard way.
