Paraguay national football team: Alfaro’s 27 for Singapore and Japan, and the World Cup squad
Gustavo Alfaro’s 27-man Paraguay squad for the friendlies against Singapore and Japan, with four first call-ups. Caps, goals and clubs, the autumn wins over Bolivia and Colombia, and the 26 who reached the World Cup last 16.
Sep 17, 2026 · Updated Nov 11, 2026
Paraguay’s current squad is the 27 players Gustavo Alfaro has picked for two friendlies at the National Stadium in Singapore, against Singapore on 13 November and Japan on 17 November, the last games of the year. Alfaro had his contract renewed to 2030 days before he named it. Four of them are uncapped, and only 15 of the 26 who reached the last 16 of the World Cup are in it. Paraguay went into the trip unbeaten since the World Cup, after friendly wins over Bolivia and Colombia in the United States.
Paraguay’s squad for Singapore and Japan
The squad was named on 7 November. Caps and goals are as of 3 October 2026, after the win over Colombia; Paraguay have not played since. The last column shows who was in the World Cup squad.
| Pos | Player | Caps | Goals | Club | At World Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Orlando Gill | 12 | 0 | Lille | Yes |
| GK | Gastón Olveira | 2 | 0 | Olimpia | Yes |
| GK | Santiago Rojas | 2 | 0 | Nacional | No |
| GK | Facundo Insfrán | 0 | 0 | Al-Wahda | No |
| DF | Gustavo Gómez (captain) | 96 | 4 | Palmeiras | Yes |
| DF | Júnior Alonso | 77 | 3 | Atlanta United | Yes |
| DF | Omar Alderete | 42 | 3 | Sunderland | Yes |
| DF | Juan José Cáceres | 24 | 0 | Dynamo Moscow | Yes |
| DF | Alan Benítez | 9 | 0 | Libertad | No |
| DF | Alexandro Maidana | 5 | 1 | Talleres | Yes |
| DF | Mateo Gamarra | 3 | 0 | Olimpia | No |
| DF | Clever Ferreira | 1 | 0 | Atlético Tucumán | No |
| DF | Mauro Coronel | 0 | 0 | Nacional | No |
| MF | Miguel Almirón | 82 | 12 | Atlanta United | Yes |
| MF | Mathías Villasanti | 52 | 0 | Grêmio | No |
| MF | Diego Gómez | 30 | 3 | Brighton | Yes |
| MF | Damián Bobadilla | 23 | 1 | São Paulo | Yes |
| MF | Matías Galarza | 21 | 4 | Inter Miami | Yes |
| MF | Braian Ojeda | 18 | 0 | Orlando City | Yes |
| MF | Maurício | 9 | 1 | Palmeiras | Yes |
| MF | Hugo Cuenca | 4 | 0 | Celta Fortuna | No |
| MF | Eduardo Delmás | 0 | 0 | Olimpia | No |
| FW | Julio Enciso | 39 | 5 | Ipswich Town | Yes |
| FW | Gustavo Caballero | 5 | 1 | Santos | Yes |
| FW | Robert Morales | 3 | 1 | Pumas UNAM | No |
| FW | Hugo Adrián Benítez | 1 | 1 | Nacional | No |
| FW | Allan Wlk | 0 | 0 | Lanús | No |
That is four goalkeepers, nine defenders, nine midfielders and five forwards, with 560 caps and 40 goals between them. The four first call-ups are goalkeeper Facundo Insfrán of Al-Wahda in the United Arab Emirates, defender Mauro Coronel of Nacional, attacking midfielder Eduardo Delmás of Olimpia and forward Allan Wlk of Lanús.
Who is in and who is out since the World Cup
Eleven of the World Cup 26 are not in the squad: Gatito Fernández, Fabián Balbuena, Gustavo Velázquez, José Canale, Andrés Cubas, Kaku, Ramón Sosa, Antonio Sanabria, Gabriel Ávalos, Álex Arce and Isidro Pitta. Andrés Cubas is out with a physical problem and José Canale is injured; no reasons were given for the rest. Antonio Sanabria, the most-capped forward in the World Cup squad, and the goalkeeper Gatito Fernández are the most experienced of those left out.
The 12 who were not at the World Cup are Santiago Rojas, Facundo Insfrán, Alan Benítez, Mateo Gamarra, Clever Ferreira, Mauro Coronel, Mathías Villasanti, Hugo Cuenca, Eduardo Delmás, Robert Morales, Hugo Adrián Benítez and Allan Wlk. Mathías Villasanti is the most experienced of them, with 52 caps.
Paraguay’s results since the World Cup
| Date | Match | Result | Paraguay scorers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Sep | Bolivia v Paraguay, Washington | W 2-0 | Miguel Almirón 2 |
| 2 Oct | Colombia v Paraguay, Harrison, New Jersey | W 1-0 | Hugo Adrián Benítez |
Almirón scored twice against Bolivia at Audi Field, and Bolivia missed a penalty with a quarter of an hour left. Against Colombia, Hugo Adrián Benítez scored the only goal 11 minutes after half-time on his debut. Almirón’s two goals took him to 12, still the most of anyone in the squad.
When do Paraguay play next?
| Date | Match | Venue | Kick-off (IST) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 Nov | Singapore v Paraguay | National Stadium, Singapore | 5.30pm |
| 17 Nov | Japan v Paraguay | National Stadium, Singapore | 6.40pm |
Paraguay have no competitive fixtures on the calendar, which is the ordinary position for a South American side in the year after a World Cup. See our Japan squad guide for the side they face on 17 November.
The 26 Paraguay took to the World Cup
Paraguay went to the 2026 World Cup for the first time in sixteen years and came home from the last 16. They knocked Germany out on penalties in the round of 32 and lost 1-0 to France in Philadelphia on 4 July, beaten by a Kylian Mbappé penalty on 70 minutes after a VAR review. The tables below are that squad, with caps and goals as they stood after the France match and clubs as at mid-September.
World Cup squad: goalkeepers
Three keepers, 43 caps between them, and the most experienced turns 39 in March. Gatito Fernández has been Cerro Porteño’s goalkeeper for most of a decade. Orlando Gill is the one at a European club.
| Player | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gatito Fernández | 31 | 0 | Cerro Porteño |
| Orlando Gill | 11 | 0 | Lille |
| Gastón Olveira | 1 | 0 | Olimpia |
World Cup squad: defenders
This is the experienced half of the team. Eight defenders hold 309 caps, more than any other group in the squad, and the captain, Gustavo Gómez, is the most capped player in it.
| Player | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gustavo Gómez | 94 | 4 | Palmeiras |
| Júnior Alonso | 76 | 3 | Atlanta United |
| Fabián Balbuena | 49 | 2 | Grêmio |
| Omar Alderete | 40 | 3 | Sunderland |
| Juan José Cáceres | 22 | 0 | Dynamo Moscow |
| Gustavo Velázquez | 18 | 1 | Cerro Porteño |
| José Canale | 6 | 0 | Lanús |
| Alexandro Maidana | 4 | 1 | Talleres |
World Cup squad: midfielders
Nine midfielders, 279 caps, and the squad’s top scorer. Miguel Almirón’s ten international goals are the most of anyone here, and he is the only player in the 26 to have reached double figures.
| Player | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miguel Almirón | 80 | 10 | Atlanta United |
| Andrés Cubas | 38 | 0 | Vancouver Whitecaps |
| Kaku | 36 | 6 | Al Ain |
| Ramón Sosa | 30 | 1 | Palmeiras |
| Diego Gómez | 28 | 3 | Brighton |
| Damián Bobadilla | 23 | 1 | São Paulo |
| Matías Galarza | 19 | 4 | Inter Miami |
| Braian Ojeda | 18 | 0 | Orlando City |
| Maurício | 7 | 1 | Palmeiras |
World Cup squad: forwards
And here is the problem. Six forwards, 141 caps and 16 international goals between the lot of them. Antonio Sanabria has almost half of those, and he has moved since the World Cup: he played it as a Cremonese player and is now at Internacional in Brazil.
| Player | Caps | Goals | Club |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Sanabria | 50 | 7 | Internacional |
| Julio Enciso | 37 | 5 | Ipswich Town |
| Gabriel Ávalos | 27 | 2 | Independiente |
| Álex Arce | 17 | 1 | Independiente Rivadavia |
| Isidro Pitta | 6 | 0 | Red Bull Bragantino |
| Gustavo Caballero | 4 | 1 | Santos |
Fifty-six goals between twenty-six players
Line the groups up and the shape of Alfaro’s Paraguay is obvious. The eight defenders have scored 14 international goals. The six forwards have scored 16. Two more, across a group whose job it is.
The concentration is sharper still at the top. Almirón’s 10 and Sanabria’s 7 account for 17 of the squad’s 56 goals, so two players have almost a third of them. Eight of the 26 have never scored for Paraguay at all, all three goalkeepers, the defenders Juan José Cáceres and José Canale, the midfielders Andrés Cubas and Braian Ojeda, and the forward Isidro Pitta.
That is not an accident of selection. It is how Paraguay qualified and how they played at the tournament: hold the game, take what comes. They were beaten by a single penalty in the last 16 and Germany could not break them in 120 minutes.
Gustavo Gómez is four caps from a hundred
The captain had 94 after the World Cup and played both autumn friendlies, which took him to 96. He is 33 and has been at Palmeiras since 2018. If he plays both games in Singapore he will be on 98 at the end of the year. Only Miguel Almirón, now on 82, and Júnior Alonso, on 77, are within twenty of him.
At the other end of the same table, Julio Enciso has 37 caps at 22. That is more than any other player in the squad under 25: Diego Gómez has 28 at 23, Matías Galarza 19 at 24, and Alexandro Maidana four at 21. Enciso has been a senior international since he was a teenager, and he has more caps than 17 of the 24 players older than him.
Where do Paraguay’s players play?
At the World Cup, the 26 were spread across nine countries, and only three were at home. Brazil has the biggest share with eight, including three at Palmeiras alone: Gustavo Gómez, Ramón Sosa and Maurício. Argentina has four and the United States four, which means MLS supplies as many of this squad as the Argentine top flight does.
England has three, at Sunderland, Brighton and Ipswich Town. The rest are scattered one apiece across France, Russia, Canada and the United Arab Emirates. The three home-based players are Gatito Fernández and Gustavo Velázquez at Cerro Porteño and Gastón Olveira at Olimpia, and all three are 33 or older.
Thirteen of the 26 are 30 or older
Exactly half the squad has passed 30, and the average age is just under 29. Gatito Fernández is 38. Fabián Balbuena, Gustavo Velázquez and Gabriel Ávalos are all 35. Against that, only five players are under 25.
Whether that matters depends on what Paraguay are building towards. There is no Copa América until 2028 and no World Cup qualifying until the cycle after this one, so Alfaro has an unusually long run of friendlies in which to change the balance if he wants to.
Who is Paraguay’s coach?
Gustavo Alfaro, an Argentine who was appointed in August 2024. He had taken Ecuador to the 2022 World Cup and had a spell with Costa Rica before that, and Paraguay is the third national side he has managed. He inherited a team that had missed three World Cups in a row and got them to the last 16 of the fourth.
Paraguay’s record at World Cups
Nine tournaments: 1930, 1950, 1958, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2026. The best run is still the 2010 quarter-final, where they lost to the eventual champions Spain, so the 2026 last 16 does not top it. They have won the Copa América twice, in 1953 and 1979.
The sixteen years between 2010 and 2026 covered three failed qualifying campaigns and a long slide down the rankings. Paraguay’s highest FIFA ranking is eighth, in March 2001, and their lowest is 103rd, in May 1995. The recovery under Alfaro started a long way from the first of those.
For the rest of the run, read how Paraguay put Germany out on penalties and how their run ended against France. Our squad guides for other national sides, including the current India squad, follow the same format.