Paraguay national football team
Men's national football team representing Paraguay / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Paraguay national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Paraguay) represents Paraguay in men's international football competitions, and are controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association (Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol). Paraguay is a member of CONMEBOL. Their nickname is the Albirroja, or red and white. The Albirroja has qualified for eight FIFA World Cup competitions (1930, 1950, 1958, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010), with their best performance coming in 2010 when they reached the quarter-finals. A regular participant at the Copa América, Paraguay have been crowned champions of the competition on two occasions (in 1953 and 1979). Paraguay's highest FIFA World Rankings was 8th (March 2001) and their lowest was 103 (May 1995). Paraguay was awarded second place with Best Move of the Year in 1996 for their rise in the FIFA Rankings.
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| Nickname(s) | Los Guaraníes (The Guaraníes) La Albirroja (The White and Red) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (APF) | ||
| Confederation | CONMEBOL (South America) | ||
| Head coach | Daniel Garnero | ||
| Captain | Gustavo Gómez | ||
| Most caps | Paulo da Silva (148) | ||
| Top scorer | Roque Santa Cruz (32) | ||
| Home stadium | Estadio Defensores del Chaco | ||
| FIFA code | PAR | ||
| |||
| FIFA ranking | |||
| Current | 56  (4 April 2024)[1] | ||
| Highest | 8 (March 2001) | ||
| Lowest | 103 (May 1995) | ||
| First international | |||
 Paraguay 1–5 Argentina  (Asunción, Paraguay; 11 May 1919) | |||
| Biggest win | |||
Paraguay 7–0 Bolivia  (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 30 April 1949)  Hong Kong 0–7 Paraguay  (Hong Kong; 17 November 2010) | |||
| Biggest defeat | |||
| Argentina 8–0 Paraguay (Santiago, Chile; 20 October 1926) | |||
| World Cup | |||
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1930) | ||
| Best result | Quarter-finals (2010) | ||
| Copa América | |||
| Appearances | 38 (first in 1921) | ||
| Best result | Champions (1953, 1979) | ||
The national team's most successful period was under the coaching of Argentine Gerardo Martino, who was awarded with the South American Coach of the Year in 2007 and took Paraguay to the quarter-finals stage of the FIFA World Cup competition for the first time in history (in 2010) and also to the final of the 2011 Copa América, where Paraguay finished as runners-up. In Paraguay's entire history at the FIFA World Cup, only Carlos Gamarra and José Luis Chilavert hold the distinction of being selected as part of the All-Star Team, being for the 1998 edition. Paulo da Silva holds the most appearances for the national team with 148 matches and Roque Santa Cruz is the all-time leading goal scorer with 32 goals. Denis Caniza, who was present with the national team from 1996 to 2010, is the only player to have represented Paraguay in four consecutive FIFA World Cup competitions (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010).