Gustavo Alfaro may need to register for online shopping.
‘Lettuce’, as he’s affectionately nicknamed, was selecting his carrots in the vegetable aisle of an Asuncion supermarket in November. Suddenly, a shelf-stacker dropped his groceries, ran over, hugged Alfaro and burst into tears. “I have a hard time making ends meet,” he said. “My only moment of joy is when the national team plays.”
By ‘plays’ he meant ‘wins’. Those had been virtually non-existent for years before Alfaro arrested an Albirroja freefall.
Paraguay finished five points above Argentina, and only one shy of winners Brazil, in CONMEBOL qualifying for South Africa 2010. There, at their fourth successive FIFA World Cup™, they won a knockout-phase tie in the competition for the first time, and had been mightily close to a cosmic upset of Spain in the quarter-finals. The future looked as bright as than the sun. It nevertheless transpired to be as dark as a black hole.
Paraguay came bottom of South American qualifying for Brazil 2014, and also missed out on Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022. A World Cup return looked impossible after six rounds of the 2026 preliminaries. Los Guaraníes had scored just one goal. They had pocketed only five points. They trailed Venezuela, the only South American side to have never reached the global finals, by four.
After losing all three matches at the Copa America 2024, they made their 10th hot-seat switch in 13 years by sacking Daniel Garnero. The Paraguayan Football Association turned to the man who had inadvertently wielded the axe on Garnero. Alfaro had, after all, masterminded Costa Rica’s 2-1 upset of Paraguay in Austin, Texas.
He’s masterminded a far greater surprise in World Cup qualifying. Paraguay survived the Argentinian’s first nine games unbeaten – a run that included victories over Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. After it ended in an unfortunate 1-0 loss in Sao Paulo, Paraguay tonight drew with Ecuador to reach the FIFA World Cup 26™ with a game to spare.
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Now Alfaro will scheme Paraguay’s success in North America with his patented one-game-at-a-time approach. He will not, however, be able to stop impassioned Paraguayans dreaming of emulating – and even eclipsing – their unforgettable charge in South Africa.
They’re not lacking reasons for optimism. Paraguay have, with Gustavo Gomez sheriffing their backline, kept clean sheets in six of 11 outings under Alfaro, while they have, in Miguel Almiron and Julio Enciso, aces capable of decrypting unyielding defences. Then there’s the megamind at the controls.
Alfaro just needs to make sure he doesn’t miss the flight up the Americas next June. If his presence in an Asuncion supermarket provided the reaction it did after a few games last year, imagine what it would trigger following a World Cup qualification that seemed a pipe dream 12 months ago.
Better start stacking the groceries in the virtual trolley, Gustavo.
Paraguay’s World Cup campaigns
1930: Group stage
1950: Group stage
1958: Group stage
1986: Last 16
1998: Last 16
2002: Last 16
2006: Group stage
2010: Quarter-finals
