Paraguay at the FIFA World Cup
Linesmen: José Macías (Argentina) Domingo Lombardi (Uruguay) In their return to the World Cup, Paraguay faced Sweden and Italy in Group 3.
Paraguay ended a 28-year absence from the World Cup in 1986 with a team starring Roberto Fernández in goal; Cesar Zabala, Rogelio Delgado and Juan Bautista Torales in defense; Jorge Amado Nunes and Vladimiro Schettina in midfield; midfield playmaker Julio César Romero and strikers Roberto Cabañas, Ramón Hicks and Rolando Chilavert (older brother of José Luis Chilavert).
Paraguay's central defending duo (Carlos Gamarra and Celso Ayala) and goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert were selected for the all-star World Cup team.
Assistant referees: Achmat Salie (South Africa) Hussain Ghadanfari (Kuwait) Fourth official: Nikolai Levnikov (Russia)
Assistant referees: Aristidis Chris Soldatos (South Africa) Owen Powell (Jamaica) Fourth official: Esse Baharmast (United States)
Assistant referees: Mohamed Al Musawi (Oman) Mikael Milsson (Sweden) Fourth official: Masayoshi Okada (Japan)
Paraguay lost to Spain in the second game (1–3) and finally defeated Slovenia (3–1; goals Nelson Cuevas, twice, and Jorge Luis Campos) to qualify for the second round.
Man of the Match: Francisco Arce (Paraguay) Assistant referees: Igor Šramka (Slovakia) Curtis Charles (Antigua and Barbuda) Fourth official: Hugh Dallas (Scotland)
Man of the Match: Fernando Morientes (Spain) Assistant referees: Wagih Farag (Egypt) Brighton Mudzamiri (Zimbabwe) Fourth official: Mohamed Guezzaz (Morocco)
Man of the Match: Nelson Cuevas (Paraguay) Assistant referees: Leif Lindberg (Sweden) Visva Krishnan (Singapore) Fourth official: Kim Young-joo (South Korea)
Man of the Match: Jens Jeremies (Germany) Assistant referees: Curtis Charles (Antigua and Barbuda) Dramane Dante (Mali) Fourth official: Hugh Dallas (Scotland) In 2006, Paraguay qualified for its third World Cup in a row.
Man of the Match: Julio dos Santos (Paraguay) Assistant referees: Cristiano Copelli (Italy) Alessandro Stagnelli (Italy) Fourth official: Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium) Fifth official: Peter Hermans (Belgium) In their fourth consecutive World Cup appearance, Paraguay eventually reached the quarter-finals.
Drawn into Group F along with defending champions Italy, Slovakia and New Zealand, they opened their tournament with a draw against the Italians, in a game where they took the lead thanks to a first-half goal from Antolín Alcaraz but ultimately finished 1-1.
Another goalless draw with the Japanese after 120 minutes went to penalties, which Paraguay won 5–3, advancing them for the first time in their history to the World Cup round of eight.
Gerardo Martino announced that he would take some time to decide his future, although the Paraguayan Football Association has offered him a four-year contract to continue at the helm.
Man of the Match: Roque Santa Cruz (Paraguay) Assistant referees: Toru Sagara (Japan)[4] Jeong Hae-sang (South Korea)[4] Fourth official: Koman Coulibaly (Mali)[4] Fifth official: Inacio Manuel Candido (Angola)[4] Paraguay and Japan met at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria on 29 June 2010.
Man of the Match: Keisuke Honda (Japan) Assistant referees: Peter Hermans (Belgium) Walter Vromans (Belgium) Fourth official: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand) Fifth official: Matthew Taro (Solomon Islands) On 3 July 2010, Spain defeated Paraguay 1–0 to secure entry to the semi-finals where they would meet Germany.
