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Paraguay and Australia played out a 0-0 draw in Kansas City on June 25, with neither side able to find the goal their efforts probably deserved — or didn't deserve, depending on how generous you're feeling. Australia go through as Group D runners-up on four points, securing their third-ever World Cup knockout appearance; Julio Enciso was Paraguay's best player by a distance, cutting through Australia's defence repeatedly but sending his best chance well wide eight minutes from time. Paraguay are also on four points but have to sweat on other results to see if they sneak through as one of the best third-placed sides. Australia face the round of 32; Paraguay face a nervous wait and a calculator.
Pre-match Talking Points
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1Both teams come in with three points and one game left. Australia just need a draw — they have the better goal difference after their 2-0 win over Turkey. Paraguay need a win, full stop. That 4-1 mauling from the USA in the opener has made a draw useless to them. So one side is playing for safety and the other has to come out swinging. That's a decent setup.
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2Australia are unbeaten in their five all-time meetings with Paraguay — two wins and three draws — which sounds reassuring until you add the awkward footnote: they've never beaten a South American side at a World Cup. One win, four losses, one draw across five attempts. They'd rather not think about that.
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3With Almiron suspended after picking up a red card against Turkey, all eyes fall on 22-year-old Julio Enciso. He's Paraguay's creative force — the kind of player who makes things happen rather than just holding the ball — and with their main experienced head sitting in the stands, it's very much on him. He plays for Brighton in the Premier League, if that helps place him.
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4Miguel Almiron's suspension is the big news in Paraguay's camp. He's their most recognisable name — Atlanta United, previously Newcastle United — and losing him for a must-win game is a proper problem. Paraguay have to win this and their plan just got harder. Coach Gustavo Alfaro has a puzzle to solve without his most dynamic midfielder.
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5Paraguay haven't been at a World Cup since South Africa 2010, and they've never once won two group-stage games at the same tournament. Ever. This match is their shot at both making the knockouts and doing something they've literally never done before. For Australia, 17 of their 26-man squad are playing their first World Cup — so whatever happens, half the dressing room is living the dream regardless.
Team Talking Points
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1Paraguay's run ended in the round of 16, beaten 1-0 by France on July 4 — a single Kylian Mbappé penalty in the 70th minute the only difference between them and the semifinals. A tight, proud way to go out against the team that reached the final.
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2The story of their tournament was the round of 32: Paraguay eliminated four-time champions Germany on penalties, 4-3, after a 1-1 draw — widely rated the biggest shock of the whole tournament. Julio Enciso scored the opener that started it all.
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3Goalkeeper Orlando Gill was the actual match-winner in that shootout, saving spot-kicks from Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade before Germany's Jonathan Tah blazed his over the bar. Not a bad way for a goalkeeper to become a household name overnight.
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4Getting there wasn't straightforward, either — Paraguay finished third in their group after a 4-1 loss to the USA, a 1-0 win over Turkey and a goalless draw with Australia, and still made it through as one of the best third-place finishers.
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5It's not quite as deep as their famous 2010 quarterfinal run, but knocking out one of the tournament favourites on the way is the kind of story Paraguayan football will be telling for years regardless of exactly which round it happened in.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Paraguay knocked four-time champions Germany out of this World Cup on penalties — their goalkeeper saved two spot-kicks to do it — and that's before you even get to how close they came to knocking out France as well.
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Avoid saying
Don't say 'at least they beat Germany' like that's the whole story — they then went toe-to-toe with the eventual finalists and lost by a single penalty. Underselling the France game undersells the whole run.
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1Australia's tournament finished in the Round of 32 — a 1-1 draw with Egypt in Dallas on July 3 that went to penalties, where Egypt won 4-2. A cruel way to go: a game that could easily have gone either way, decided by a shootout.
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2The breakout story was 20-year-old winger Nestory Irankunda, who became Australia's youngest-ever World Cup goalscorer with a strike against Turkey. Born in Tanzania to Burundian refugee parents and raised in Adelaide, his story is as good as his finishing.
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3Reaching the Round of 32 at all was the platform Australia needed — they finished runners-up in their group to get there, a solid step for a team that's historically had to scrap for every point at this level.
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4Irankunda is the name for the file — a Watford winger with genuine pace already being talked about as the face of the next Socceroos generation. Say it right and you'll out-fan most casuals in the room.
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5This was meant to be a building tournament for Australia, and on that score it delivered — a penalty shootout exit stings, but a teenage breakout star plus a group-stage runners-up finish is more than plenty of nations get. The next cycle looks genuinely promising.
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Top thing to say down the pub
Australia lose on penalties to Egypt after a game that could've gone either way — but Nestory Irankunda, twenty years old, becoming their youngest-ever World Cup scorer is the story to actually remember from this one.
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Avoid saying
Any cricket comparison — wrong sport, wrong tournament, and it tells everyone in the room you reached for the only Australian sports reference you had.