Argentina vs Paraguay

Estadio Monumental is the venue as Argentina and Paraguay go head-to-head in a lopsided 2026 World Cup qualifying fixture.

Whether Lionel Messi will feature for Argentina this month remains to be seen after an injury setback forced him to miss a substantial chunk of Inter Miami’s fixtures in recent weeks. However, manager Lionel Scaloni can rest easy as his men continue their quest to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after beating Ecuador and Bolivia 4-0 on aggregate in their opening two qualifiers. Those wins form part of Argentina’s outstanding 12-game winning streak, which includes a nail-biting victory over France in the 2022 World Cup title decider last winter. Since returning home, ‘La Albiceleste’ have won six internationals on the trot via a combined score of 17-0, highlighting the level of confidence streaming through their veins. On top of that, Argentina’s recent home record in World Cup qualifiers has been nothing short of impressive, with the reigning world champions losing just two such fixtures since September 2009 (W18, D8).

On the other hand, visiting Paraguay will unlikely take this trip in high spirits after going scoreless in their first two 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Following a goalless home draw against Peru on day one, they conceded a late penalty in a dreadful 1-0 defeat away to continental minnows Venezuela last time out. That loss was the final straw for underperforming manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto as ‘Los Guaraníes’ cast him out of the nest in the aftermath, bringing Daniel Garnero to take his place. Garnero’s first assignment is to reinvigorate Paraguay’s sleeping attack that has drawn a blank in five of their last seven internationals. But that would only be a first step toward recuperation, as the visitors come into proceedings having racked up just two wins in 18 competitive matches spanning across the past three years (D7, L9).