Paraguay return to the World Cup after 16 years — and face the hosts first
Group D kicks off with the host under pressure: the Paraguayans arrive hungry and have everything to gain
Sixteen years of waiting. That's the hunger Paraguay brings to this World Cup — and the first obstacle is as symbolic as it gets: the host nation, on home soil.
This Friday (12th), at 19:00 (Brasília time), the USA and Paraguay face off at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Group D has the USA and Turkey as favourites, but Paraguay arrive in exactly the role that makes everyone uncomfortable: the team with nothing to lose.
The strategy that got them here now has to work against a host nation backed by 70,000 fans. Pressure? That's the best part when you've just ended a 16-year absence.
Golmetria's model gives the USA just a 0.36% chance of lifting the trophy — and the market agrees, with an implied probability of 1.35%. For a country hosting the tournament, that number says a great deal about the level of competition.
Paraguay knows the window is now. An upset in the opener, against the host, could change everything inside the group. And upsets, as any football fan knows, are exactly what the World Cup was made to produce.
Los Angeles will be celebrating no matter what. The question is: which side gets to party?