Paraguay at the FIFA World Cup in France by qualifying in second place in South America, behind Argentina. The first round matches were against Bulgaria (0–0), Spain (0–0), and Nigeria (3–1; goals Celso Ayala, Miguel Ángel Benítez and José Cardozo). Paraguay qualified to the second round (Round of 16) to be defeated in a thrilling match against hosts and eventual World Champions France. France only scored through Laurent Blanc in the 114th minute, during the second half of overtime (making it the first golden goal scored in a World Cup). Paraguay's central defending duo (Carlos Gamarra and Celso Ayala) and goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert were selected
Asian nations at the FIFA World Cup scored, however, Ha Seok-ju was sent off for a bad challenge from behind, and Mexico leveled the score through half-time substitute Ricardo Peláez. With approximately 15 minutes remaining, Luis Hernández put Mexico in the lead with a simple tap-in. Hernández then went on to complete the victory after scoring Mexico's third goal. South Korea had to wait four more years to record their first ever victory in a World Cup: its next game against the Netherlands was a heavy 0–5 defeat, the third-worst loss in the nation's World Cup history. Its third game was against Belgium. A big win would