Paraguay
FIFA #30
The dark arts specialists of South American football — cynical, organized, and mysteriously effective. You'll spend 90 minutes irritated by them and slightly impressed. Reached the 2010 quarter-finals and will never let it go.
📍 In the US
Staged in the Miami area alongside much of the South American contingent, which suits Paraguay's underdog status — nobody will be paying much attention to them at the hotel bar, and they prefer it that way. They'll quietly study the other teams' schedules and find an angle nobody saw coming.
Style
Defensively resolute and hard to break down, winning battles in every duel and punishing opponents who switch off at set pieces.
Rivals
Argentina. Paraguay have a talent for defeating their larger neighbor at exactly the wrong moment, and they've been doing it since 1919 with considerable satisfaction.
Home Base
A landlocked country in the heart of South America where football is played on every dusty pitch from Asunción to the rural interior. Paraguay has produced world-class goalkeepers at a rate that seems statistically improbable — José Luis Chilavert remains a national hero for scoring penalties and trash-talking simultaneously.
Human Rights
Freedom House
Political rights and civil liberties score (higher = more free)
Reporters Without Borders
Press Freedom Index ranking (lower = more free, out of 180 countries)
UN Human Development Index
Human Development Index score (higher = more developed, 0–1 scale)
Transparency International
Perceived public sector corruption — higher is cleaner
ILGA World
Legal status of same-sex relationships