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
Japan at the FIFA World Cup three group games and finished in 31st position. Masashi Nakayama scored Japan's first ever goal in a World Cup Finals against Jamaica on 26 June 1998 in a 2-1 defeat. Keisuke Honda becomes the first Japanese player to score in three world cups: 2010, 2014, 2018. They made their sixth appearance at the finals in the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Japan became the first ever Asian nation to beat a side from South America, after they won 2-1 against Colombia in the group stage. The team made it to the Round of 16 (the first knock-out round) but