Turkiye suffered a deeply painful 1-0 defeat against Paraguay in Group D of the 2026 World Cup, an outcome that seals their elimination from the tournament and marks them as one of this edition’s biggest disappointments, especially given the immense pre-tournament optimism surrounding their talented generation.
With this result, Turkiye are officially eliminated from the World Cup. Because the USMNT has already defeated Australia to move to six points and claim the top spot in the group, this defeat to a Paraguay side that played without Almiron due to a first-half red card leaves Turkiye with zero points through two matches.
Even with a win in their final match against the United States, Turkiye would only reach three points. That is mathematically not enough to catch up to the USA, which secured the top spot in the Group D standings, and even if Turkiye catches Australia or Paraguay at three points, they would lose the tiebreaker due to the head-to-head record between the tied teams.
What do Paraguay need to qualify?
As a reminder, Paraguay began their 2026 World Cup campaign with a harsh setback, suffering a 4-1 blowout loss against the United States in Los Angeles. However, this victory over Turkiye keeps them alive, restoring all the hope and confidence that they can qualify for the knockout stages.
Arda Guler #8 of Turkiye is challenged by Andres Cubas #14 of Paraguay
Following this victory, Paraguay secured three incredibly important points and now prepare for an absolute final against Australia, knowing that they need to improve their goal difference to dream of qualifying in second place, as they would surpass Australia in points with a victory.
Otherwise, they will have to trust that their goal difference will be enough to advance as one of the best third-placed teams, though they would need at least a draw to reach four points and then depend on results from other World Cup groups.
Once the group stage concludes, the winner of the zone will face a third-placed team coming from Group B, E, F, I, or J, while the runner-up will play against the second-place finisher from Group G. Should they qualify as one of the best third-placed teams, the opponent will be the leader of Group E, I, or K.
