September 11 – Brazil slumped to a 1-0 defeat against Paraguay in the World Cup qualifiers, but remain on course to reach the 2026 finals.
After a laboured 1-0 victory on home soil against Ecuador last week, the five-time world champions were lackluster in Asuncion and lost a fourth qualifier. In the 20th minute, Diego Gomez’s long-range effort found the back of the net, enough for Paraguay to claim three points and a historic win against their illustrious neighbours.
In the first half, Brazil didn’t register a single shot on target and Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior cut a frustrated figure. Brazil were outplayed and the defeat left them fifth in the standings on ten points. Venezuela have the same number of points, but a worse goal difference following a goalless draw against Uruguay.
Brazil remain the only team to have participated in every single World Cup and with six teams from South America qualifying for the expanded 48-team tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada in 2026, Dorival Junior’s should still clinch a ticket, however they have topped South American qualifying for both of the last two tournaments..
The seventh-placed team from Conmebol will play an inter-confederation playoff. The bottom three in South America won’t qualify for the World Cup, such is the huge weighting towards the continent in terms of 2026 qualification slots.
Dorival Junior admitted that Brazil had played their worst half under him in Asuncion and pressure will grow on the manager, who replaced Fernando Diniz to restore some calm in the Brazil camp. Instead, Brazil’s form in the World Cup qualifiers has remained poor and the Seleçao crashed out of the Copa America in the last eight in July in the US.
Dorival Junior said: “From the moment we conceded the goal, we lost our way. Everything we had been building up until the end of the first half we left behind and gave up. It was the worst half since we’ve been here and it contributed to the final result.”
Next month, Brazil will resume their qualification campaign with a trip to Chile and a home fixture against Peru.
Last night Argentina, without Lionel Messi, lost their second qualification match 2-1 to Colombia, but remain top of the qualification group, two points ahead of Colombia and Uruguay.
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