These are Paraguay’s 26 players for the 2026 World Cup: Meet the squad that will take on the USMNT on June 12
Here’s a look at the Paraguay squad for the upcoming World Cup.
The World Cup is days away, and Gustavo Alfaro has named his Paraguay squad to take on Group D.
The South American side qualified via the hugely challenging CONMEBOL route, which is an intense division of ten teams who battle it out for a place in the top 6. Paraguay made it through, finishing 6th on 28 points after 18 games, winning 7, drawing 7, and losing just 4 times.
Their standout result was a 1-0 win over Brazil in late 2024, with Brighton’s Diego Gómez scoring the winner. A few months later they beat Argentina 2-1 in Asunción, and beat Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay in June 2025. In the end, a dramatic win over Peru in Lima secured their position in the table and sealed their automatic qualification.
The Albirroja open their World Cup adventure with a game against the United States on June 12 at Los Angeles Stadium. After that, they will take on Arda Güler and the rest of the Turkish national team on June 19 at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium. Their final group game will be against Australia on June 25 at the same venue.
Here’s a look at their squad list for the tournament.
Paraguay World Cup squad list:
Goalkeepers
- Roberto Junior Fernández (Cerro Porteño)
- Gastón Olveira (Olimpia)
- Orlando Gill (San Lorenzo de Almagro)
Defenders
- Gustavo Gómez (Palmeiras)
- Omar Alderete (Getafe / Sunderland)
- Fabián Balbuena (Dinamo Moscú)
- Junior Alonso (Atlético Mineiro)
- Juan José Cáceres (Lanús)
- Gustavo Velázquez (Newell’s / Cerro Porteño)
- José María Canale (Lanús)
- Alexandro Maidana (Talleres)
Midfielders
- Diego Gómez (Inter Miami)
- Andrés Cubas (Vancouver Whitecaps)
- Damián Bobadilla (São Paulo)
- Braian Ojeda (Real Salt Lake)
- Matías Galarza (Talleres)
- Alejandro Romero Gamarra (Al-Ain)
- Maurício Magalhães Prado (Palmeiras)
Forwards
- Julio Enciso (Brighton)
- Miguel Almirón (Newcastle)
- Ramón Sosa (Nottingham Forest / Palmeiras)
- Álex Arce (LDU Quito)
- Antonio Sanabria (Torino)
- Gabriel Ávalos (Independiente)
- Isidro Pitta (Cuiabá)
- Gustavo Caballero (Nacional)
Technical staff
- Head coach: Gustavo Alfaro
- Assistant: Carlos González
- Assistant: Claudio Cristofanelli
- Goalkeeper coach: Joaquín Ketlún
- Physical trainer: Sergio Chiarelli
- Analyst: Alejandro Manograsso
- Analyst: Guillermo Burdisso
Players in the initial list:
- Carlos Coronel (São Paulo)
- Juan Espínola (Barracas Central)
- Santiago Rojas (Nacional)
- Saúl Salcedo (Newell’s)
- Blas Riveros (Talleres / Cerro Porteño)
- Agustín Sández (Rosario Central)
- Mateo Gamarra (Athletico Paranaense)
- Alan Benítez (Libertet)
- Alan Núñez (Cerro Porteño)
- Diego León (Cerro Porteño)
- Rubén Lezcano (Olimpia)
- Hugo Cuenca (Milan / Burgos)
- Óscar Romero (Pendiente)
- Mathías Villasanti (Grêmio)
- Robert Piris da Motta (Cerro Porteño)
- Álvaro Campuzano (Libertad)
- Lucas Romero (Cruzeiro)
- Adam Bareiro (River Plate / Boca)
- Ángel Romero (Corinthians)
- Lorenzo Melgarejo (Libertad)
- Adrián Alcaraz (Olimpia)
- Enso González (Wolverhampton)
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