In one of the most forgettable matches of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Australia and Paraguay played out to a 0-0 draw on Thursday night in Santa Clara, California.
While Australia clinched second place in Group D, Paraguay finished third and virtually secured its place in the Round of 32. Most supercomputers, including the one at The Athletic, give Paraguay more than a 99% chance to qualify.
Turkiye defeated the United States 3-2 in the other Group D match, though it had no bearing on the standings whatsoever, as the USMNT had clinched the top spot, while Turkiye had already suffered elimination.
For Australia, it’s just the third time they’ve qualified for the World Cup knockout stages, and the first time they’ve ever done so in back-to-back tournaments. Paraguay are also in the knockout stage for the second straight time, though this is their first time participating in the World Cup since their best-ever quarterfinal run in 2010.
Australia reaction
Though Australia’s place in the Round of 32 is set in stone, their opponent is not. They will be looking forward to watching the World Cup Group G matches tomorrow, as they face the runner-up. The group is still wide open, meaning they can take on either Belgium, Iran, Egypt, or New Zealand on July 3 in Dallas.
Manager Tony Popovic applauded his team’s efforts and is already looking forward to his side’s upcoming match at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
“The staff, the players, just a wonderful young group of men, and now we go to Dallas, and we’ll try and do something special.
“The one at the end was the first time that I really looked at the clock and thought, please blow the whistle. But I think overall we deserved it. We were very good today, just a wonderful performance.”
Though midfielder Aiden O’Neill earned the Man of the Match honors, he said that Jordy Bos deserved it. While Bos normally plays out on the left, he switched sides due to Jacob Italiano’s injury. Bos, along with fellow winger Cristian Volpato, gave the Paraguayans fits all night.
“They were a good combination, lots of threat, obviously both of them can run with the ball,” he said. “[Bos] is such a talented player. You can see that in what he creates for us. He’s a special talent.”
Winger Ajdin Hrustic added: “He was switched on, we had two sessions where we did a bit of tactics, and he looked comfortable,” he said. “I asked him if he played as a right wing or right wingback, so I started calling him Dani Alves [the famous former Brazilian full-back].”
Paraguay reaction
Paraguay put out an extremely defensive starting XI with Miguel Almiron suspended after his red card for covering his mouth in the win over Turkiye.
In his post-match interview, Paraguay manager Gustavo Alfaro admitted that he was extremely concerned by the “complex” Australian side, especially their wingers. He was so bothered that he changed Paraguay’s gameplan completely and was happy to have settled for a point.
“The feeling I have is that it was not enough, the result we were aiming for, but I am realistic,” he said.
“I know one thing what you wish for, the other the reality. We knew it was going to be a challenging, very complex game.
“The opponent tries to make things harder for their rivals; they did for Turkiye, USA, and they did the same for us. They are very strong for defence, very fast, they have the speed, the physicality, they have the height, very good at aerial game – they make it very complex.
“They are a team that knows how to use spaces…they can play wide as well. So, Australia has very good players and some of them are in the top five maximum speed, like Irankunda, Bos, so we knew this was going to be a complex game for us.
“We had tried with a line of four but we realised that at some point with a line of five we could make it and it was hard already…we would’ve had way more spaces for the opponent and they would’ve played on the flanks, they were very good on the right side in the first half, Bos plays on the left normally as a fifth defence (but) he played on the right, went on the centre, partnered well with (Cristian) Volpato and he played deep and it was hard for us to stop that.
“(So, we were) missing fluidity to take it out of the defence, centre, so we had long passes we missed.”
He also had to remind his fans to be grateful. Despite qualifying from CONMEBOL, arguably the second-toughest federation on the planet, Paraguay still virtually qualified for the Round of 32 as the lowest-ranked team in the group, with just four players featuring for top-five European sides.
“It’s great we talk about qualifying and it’s fine if you want to have a critical eye to Paraguay.
“We also do self-criticism, and we also have to look at other teams and why they qualify for six consecutive World Cups…that’s where we should be able to ask some questions with players who aren’t in the main teams!”
Enciso clatters into advertising boards
There was a scary moment in the second half after a battle between Paraguayan star Julio Enciso and Australia defender Alessandro Circati. This resulted in Enciso crashing into one of the advertising boards behind the Australia goal.
While Enciso stayed down momentarily, he eventually got back to his feet and played the remainder of the match.
Paraguayan manager Gustavo Alfaro called for FIFA to reassess the placement of these pitch-side advertising boards.
“I think that maybe if there was more space, that will be good because of course there’s a lot of intensity when we are playing.
“Sometimes, if a player gets destabilised, he could fall and get injured, and these things can happen. So, maybe we have to think about that and reassess.”
Enciso was already dealing with a serious injury issue, having hurt his leg in a friendly against Nicaragua just a week before the World Cup, an injury that many believed would keep him out of the tournament.
Group D final table
| Pos | Team | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 6 |
| 2 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Paraguay | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 4 |
| 4 | Turkiye | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 3 |
What’s next for Australia and Paraguay?
Australia have locked up their place in the World Cup Round-of-32 bracket as the second-placed finisher in Group D. They will take on the Group G runner-up, which could be Belgium, Iran, Egypt, or New Zealand, on July 3 in Dallas.
Their path to the final is likely to be an immediate challenge. They are in the same quadrant as Argentina, who will face the Group H runner-up, which is likely to be either Cape Verde or Saudi Arabia.
For Paraguay, it’s virtually set in stone that they will take on Germany in Boston on June 29.
