Turkey lose to Paraguay and are eliminated from the 2026 World Cup

The Turkey national football team lost all chances of advancing from Group D at the 2026 World Cup after a 0-1 defeat to Paraguay in the second round. Considering the loss to Australia (0-2) in the opening match, the Turkish side is ending its tournament campaign early. The only goal of the match was scored as early as the 2nd minute: Paraguay's Galarza capitalized on an error by the Turkish defense while clearing the ball and sent a precise long-range shot into the corner of the net after a pass from Enciso.

Despite the early goal conceded, Turkey created plenty of dangerous chances. In the 35th minute, after a cross from Hakan Çalhanoğlu, defender Mert Müldür headed the ball against the woodwork — it struck the crossbar and the post in succession. In stoppage time of the first half (45+3 minute), Paraguay were reduced to ten men: after VAR intervention, referee Ivan Barton sent off Almirón for a verbal altercation with Müldür. In the second half, playing with a man advantage, Turkey completely dominated the pitch, but a series of saves by Paraguayan goalkeeper Gill after shots from Ismail Yüksek, Kenan Yıldız, Ferdi and Deniz Gül prevented them from leveling the score. In the 89th minute, Candan Uzun missed a golden chance, with his shot from the penalty area saved by the goalkeeper, while Gül's follow-up went wide. In the 63rd minute, Turkey head coach Vincenzo Montella also received a yellow card for vigorous protests over play being stopped.

The match marked a historic precedent: in the 14th minute, the referee applied FIFA's new rules aimed at combating time-wasting. Since Paraguay goalkeeper Gill took too long to put the ball back into play from a goal kick, the referee punished his team by awarding a corner kick to Turkey. Nevertheless, Paraguay managed to hold on to their narrow lead until the final whistle.