Football in Paraguay Football in Paraguay Football is by far the most popular sport in Paraguay to the point that it is part of the nation's culture. Football arrived to Paraguay in the late 1800s. There are differing versions as to how this happened. The most commonly held account is that of William Paats. This account has much primary source documentation (newspaper articles) As this version goes, football was first introduced in Paraguay by Dutchman William Paats, who moved from the Netherlands to Asunción (the capital of Paraguay) in 1888. During a trip to Buenos Aires Paats bought a football and brought it
History of the Paraguay national football team of 9 European based players, were expected to advance to at least the round of 16 stage of the competition according to the Paraguayan media, however, defender Antolín Alcaraz believed that Paraguay had what was "required to reach the semi-finals" and Nelson Valdez also believed that the current generation was the one to go further than Paraguay had ever been before. Paraguay were drawn into Group F alongside World Champions Italy, Slovakia and New Zealand. Paraguay would face Italy in their opening group stage match and would take a 1–0 lead in the 39th minute thanks to a header from