Paraguay Overcomes "Mouth Covering Red Card" Setback to Edge Turkiye 1-0 [2026 World Cup]

Paraguay Scores in the 2nd Minute
and Plays 88 Minutes of Defensive Football

Paraguay overcame a numerical disadvantage caused by the newly implemented "no covering the mouth" rule and defeated Turkiye. With this victory, Paraguay has kept its hopes alive for advancing to the Round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup.

Paraguayan players celebrating. Photo by Yonhap News

On June 20 (KST), Paraguay edged Turkiye 1-0 in their Group D second match of the World Cup group stage, held at Bay Area Stadium in San Francisco, California, USA. After suffering a 1-4 defeat to the United States in the first match, Paraguay now has 1 win and 1 loss (3 points), ranking third in the group behind the United States (2 wins) and Australia (1 win, 1 loss). In addition, this marks Paraguay’s first World Cup finals victory in 16 years, following their win against Slovakia at the 2010 South Africa tournament.

On the other hand, Turkiye, who suffered another setback after losing to Australia, has been eliminated from the group stage regardless of the outcome of their remaining match against the United States. Despite dominating the match against Australia with 30 shots and 62% possession, Turkiye lost 0-2. In this match, a similar pattern emerged as they recorded 65% possession and 31 shots, pouring on the offense. However, Paraguay’s efficient football, with only 26% possession and 7 shots, denied Turkiye a single point.

The winning goal came early in the match. Right after kickoff, Paraguay attacked Turkiye’s right flank, and Matias Galarza, receiving a pass from Julio Cesar Enciso, struck a powerful left-footed shot from just outside the penalty arc, sending the ball into the net. After taking the lead, Paraguay dropped their defensive line deep, holding off Turkiye’s all-out attack with determined defending. In the 35th minute of the first half, Turkiye’s Mert Muldur saw his header hit both the crossbar and right post in quick succession, with luck favoring Paraguay.

Toward the end of the first half, Paraguay faced major adversity. Following a rough tackle by Paraguayan striker Isidro Pitta, players from both teams got into a scuffle. During the confrontation, Paraguayan midfielder Miguel Almiron covered his mouth with his hand while making a remark toward Turkiye’s Muldur. After a VAR (Video Assistant Referee) review, the referee issued a red card to Almiron.

FIFA introduced the new regulation for this World Cup, banning players from covering their mouths while confronting opponents to prevent hate speech and racist remarks. This marked the first time a player was sent off under this rule.

Down a player, Paraguay employed an ultra-defensive strategy in the second half, with all players contributing to defense. In the 62nd minute, Paraguayan goalkeeper made a crucial save, catching a sharp header from Turkiye’s Deniz Gul. After surviving several crises, Paraguay resorted to blatant time-wasting tactics midway through the second half. Diego Gomez, after falling during a challenge, deliberately delayed getting up and was ordered to wait off the field for one minute.

Even after the "cooling break" (a water break) in the second half, the game’s dynamic did not change. Paraguay held out tenaciously, while Turkiye’s attacks remained frustrated. In the 82nd minute, Can Uzun’s right-footed shot narrowly missed the left post, and in the 89th minute, another decisive shot by Uzun was blocked by Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gill’s spectacular save. In stoppage time, Merih Demiral’s final header also missed the target, allowing Paraguay to secure a thrilling 1-0 victory.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.