Enciso's absence from team training puts Maurício in pole position for Paraguay's opener

The Palmeiras midfielder is training normally with the squad and is competing for a starting spot with Ramón Sosa

Julio Enciso, one of Paraguay's most anticipated names at the World Cup, continues to train separately from the main group after suffering a thigh injury last Friday. For the third consecutive day, the midfielder carried out only physical and ball work around the pitch, away from collective sessions.

With Enciso's availability in doubt, Palmeiras midfielder Maurício has emerged as the leading candidate to fill the position in the opener against the United States next Friday in Los Angeles. He is training normally with the rest of the squad and is expected to feature alongside Sanabria in attack. Fellow Palmeiras player Ramón Sosa is also competing for the same spot. Head coach Gustavo Alfaro is still weighing the option of pushing Diego Gómez forward and dropping Caballero into midfield.

Naturalised as a Paraguayan citizen in February, Maurício received his first call-up in March and featured in friendlies against Greece and Morocco. Against Nicaragua last week, he came on after Enciso was substituted off. Paraguay holds a closed training session this Wednesday ahead of their tournament opener.

The Golmetria model gives the USA a 0.0036 probability of winning the title, while the market assigns an implied probability of 0.0164 to the same outcome.