Uruguay Faces Paraguay in Historic World Cup Qualifiers

Asunción, Paraguay — The history of South American World Cup qualifiers dates back to the 1958 tournament in Sweden. Uruguay faced Colombia and Paraguay in their qualifying matches. The Celeste, as Uruguay is known, has a bitter memory from their first qualifier against Paraguay in Asunción, where they lost 5-0.

That match occurred on July 14, 1957, at the Estadio Puerto Sajonia. Uruguay players included Taibo, William Martínez, and Walter Roque. Paraguay took an early lead within five minutes when Florencio Amarilla scored, contributing three goals that game along with goals from Juan Agüero and Ángel Jara Saguier.

Throughout the years, encounters between Uruguay and Paraguay have been filled with memorable moments. On April 30, 1997, Uruguay played Paraguay in the qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup. This match was tumultuous for the Uruguayan team under coach Héctor Núñez, later changing management to Juan Ahuntchain and finally Roque Gastón Máspoli. Uruguay lost 1-0, with Álvaro Gutiérrez receiving a red card just 17 minutes into the game.

In the qualifying matches for the 2002 World Cup, Uruguay brought in Argentine coach Daniel Passarella. For this game, Passarella named Álvaro Recoba as captain even with other veteran leaders available. Paraguay won again, 1-0, with a goal from Celso Ayala.

Uruguay faced another crushing defeat in 2007, losing 1-0 again to Paraguay, which further strained the relationship between players and the coaching staff. However, a turning point came during the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. On September 5, 2017, Uruguay achieved their first victory over Paraguay in Asunción with a score of 2-1, marked by the debut goal of Federico Valverde. On January 27, 2022, under new coach Diego Alonso, Uruguay won again against Paraguay, this time 1-0, thanks to a goal from Luis Suárez.