Paraguay earned a historic victory in the CONMEBOL FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification campaign with a 1-0 win over Brazil in Asuncion on Tuesday.
Inter Miami midfielder Diego Gomez, who is reportedly due to join Premier League side Brighton at the end of the season, scored the game’s solitary goal, crashing a long-range shot in off the post in the 20th minute.
The defeat leaves Brazil in fifth place in the standings on 10 points, leading by goal difference from Venezuela, which drew 0-0 at home to Uruguay on Tuesday.
Paraguay meanwhile moved into seventh place on nine points after just their second win of the qualifying campaign.
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Despite the defeat, Brazil remain on course for a place at the 2026 World Cup which is being co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
With the tournament expanded to 48 teams, the top six finishers in South American qualifying will win a berth to the finals.
The seventh placed team in qualifying goes into an inter-confederation playoff, with the bottom three teams eliminated.
This is Brazil’s fourth defeat in its last five World Cup qualifiers.
Manager Dorival Jr, who took over from Tite after the Selecao’s quarterfinal exit at the 2022 World Cup, looked forlorn on the sidelines as his side was comprehensively outplayed and fortunate not to lose by more.
Brazil failed to record a shot on target in the first half and had only three shots on target in the match, all via a frustrated Vinicius Jr, who has been unable to have the same impact for his country as he has for club side for Real Madrid.
Brazil will look to get their campaign back on track next month when they travel to face Chile before hosting Peru.
- With inputs from Reuters
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