A look back at USA-Paraguay history
The 2026 co-hosts' long history with their opening opponents from South America stretches back to the inaugural World Cup in 1930.
The two countries will meet for the second time in the FIFA World Cup
USA defeated the South American side 2-1 in a November friendly
They have twice squared off in the CONMEBOL Copa America
12 June 2026 will be one of the most anticipated dates in American soccer history with the USA national team set to debut on home soil against Paraguay in the FIFA World Cup 2026™. The Group D fixture at Los Angeles Stadium will be a reunion of sorts.
It will be the tenth all-time meeting between the two sides, their first coming at the maiden FIFA World Cup™ in Uruguay in 1930, and their most recent, a hard-fought November 2025 friendly right outside of Philadelphia, USA emerged victorious 2-1. Along the way, there were a pair of CONMEBOL Copa America meetings with split fortunes, and multiple friendlies, one of which included a notable debut.
FIFA takes a look back at the history between the 2026 co-hosts and their opening South American foes.
It was nearly 96 years ago when the two nations clashed for the first time in the global showpiece, then a much more muted affair played by 13 teams in Uruguay. It was the second group stage match for USA, who arrived on the heels of an emphatic 3-0 win over Belgium in their opener, and the debut for the Paraguayans.
Once again, USA ran out 3-0 winners in a contest that included several historical footnotes thanks to goal-getter Bert Patenaude. Not only is it the first and only hat-trick by a USA player in a World Cup match, but it was the first hat-trick scored in World Cup history. It also remains the only time that USA have won two group stage matches in a World Cup.
Played at Montevideo’s Parque Central, Patenaude struck for goals in the 10th, 15th and 50th minutes, with a pair of fine finishes off of Andy Auld crosses sandwiching a strike from a Raphael Tracey long ball.
Seventy-seven years passed before their next official meeting in the 2007 CONMEBOL Copa America. Prior to that, however, there was a trio of friendlies, beginning with a 0-0 draw in 1997, a 2-2 draw in 1998 that produced the only international goal for legendary Paraguayan defender Denis Caniza, and a 2-0 USA win in 2003.
The 2007 Copa America in Venezuela saw USA field a team comprised heavily of younger players, with most of the regular starters having just won the Concacaf Gold Cup in the weeks prior. The two nations were drawn into Group C and entered their second match of the tournament with differing forms.
USA had been pasted 4-1 by an Argentina team boasting the likes of Lionel Messi and Juan Roman Riquelme, while Paraguay came soaring fresh from a 5-0 walloping of Colombia. USA hung tough into the second half on level terms 1-1, but goals from Oscar Cardozo and Salvador Cabanas all but sealed an early USA exit from the tournament.
A single friendly in 2011, won 1-0 by Paraguay, marked the lone encounter before their next major clash, coming in the group stage finale at the Copa America Centenario in 2016.
In a must-win for both teams in Group A, USA delivered one of their finest performances in the Jurgen Klinsmann era, as they overcame a 48th-minute DeAndre Yedlin sending-off to win 1-0.
Clint Dempsey supplied the winning goal in the 27th minute when he scored off a cross from Gyasi Zardes, but it was the performance from defender John Brooks that stole the headlines. The hulking centre-back made arguably the defensive play of the tournament when he halted a 3-on-1 Paraguay counter-attack with a perfect slide tackle on Miguel Almiron.
USA’s failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ brought about sweeping changes, including a push to incorporate players from the respective U-17 and U-20 teams. The result was a large number of young players earning their debuts in 2018 under interim coach Dave Sarachan, one of which was Timothy Weah in a March 2018 friendly against Paraguay.
At the tender age of 18, Weah came off the bench in the second half and helped the Yanks secure a 1-0 win against the Albirroja, becoming the first player born in the 2000s to play for USA. The Brooklyn-born son of the legendary George Weah has gone on to become a fixture for the national team and scored the first USA goal at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ in their 1-1 draw with Wales.
The aforementioned meeting that took place last November at the home of the Philadelphia Union of Major League Soccer (MLS) offered a glimpse of how these teams might stack up against each other in June. The biggest takeaway for USA from their 2-1 victory was the performance of Gio Reyna, who scored the opener in the fourth minute and then delivered the assist for Folarin Balogun's winner.
Alex Arce struck for Paraguay minutes after Reyna's opener off an excellent cross from Almiron. There was a feisty finish to this friendly, with some late pushing and shoving that resulted in a last-minute red card for Omar Alderete. Now, nearly a century after their initial meeting and less than a year after their last, USA and Paraguay will renew acquaintances in the World Cup with the stakes higher than ever.