Back
Steffen Schmidt - September 5, 2023
Paraguay vs Peru
CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup Qualifications
Date: 7 September 2023, Thursday
Kick-off at 23:30 UK / 00:30 CET
Venue: Estadio Antonio Aranda (Ciudad del Este).
Paraguay and Peru will have the honor to raise the curtain on the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign in South America as they take on each other on Thursday evening at Estadio Antonio Aranda.
Neither team made it to the previous World Cup in 2022. Paraguay had a dismal campaign, finishing third from bottom in the CONMEBOL zone with the weakest attacking record of all ten teams in the competition.
The Paraguayans notched only 12 goals in 18 outings and head coach Guillermo Barros Schelotto will mainly look to address the attacking issues ahead of the new qualification process.
The latest set of friendlies did not go quite as planned for Schelotto and his troops as Paraguay suffered three successive defeats to Peru, Colombia, and Chile before beating Nicaragua 2-0 in June.
Peru, on the other side, ended the previous qualifying campaign in fifth position which was good enough only for the inter-continental playoffs.
The Peruvians fell to Australia on penalties there after a goalless draw in the regular time. Peru do not have a predator in the final third either and they’ll come into this game after scoring just two goals in the last four friendlies.
Four of the previous six matches Peru played ended with fewer than two goals scored. Knowing about Paraguay’s attacking woes, we have reasons to expect a low-scoring scenario on Thursday in Ciudad del Este.
Both Paraguay and Peru are struggling for goals. This is the first game of the qualifying campaign and we expect an intense battle at the center of the park without too many chances on either end.
The Under 2.5 goals FT is the standout betting option at the 1.61 odds while we will alternatively back Peru not to lose at the 1.80 odds knowing they’ve won nine of the last ten clashes against Paraguay.
