Paraguay

Paraguay have appeared at eight World Cups before 2026, including the very first in 1930 where they finished in ninth place.

Their best ever World Cup finish was the quarter-finals in South Africa 2010 — a run that included holding reigning champions Italy to a 1-1 draw and reaching the last eight for the first time ever.

Denis Caniza is the only player ever to represent Paraguay at four consecutive FIFA World Cups (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010).

Despite a population of only 7.5 million, Paraguay has produced Premier League talents like Diego Gómez (Brighton) and Julio Enciso (Strasbourg), as well as Brazilian série-A regulars from Palmeiras.

This squad has just three players from the local Paraguayan Primera División — the rest ply their trade across Brazil (7), Argentina (6), Europe, and MLS, making it the most internationally dispersed in the nation's history.

Paraguay's legendary goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert took his team's free kicks and penalties, scoring eight international goals — and he remains the only keeper in history with a professional hat-trick, three penalties for Vélez in 1999.

A Paraguayan still holds the all-time scoring record of the Argentine league: Arsenio Erico hammered nearly 300 goals for Independiente in the 1930s and 40s and was the boyhood idol of Alfredo Di Stéfano.