🇵🇾 Paraguay

Alfaro typically lines up in a 4-2-3-1, with Andrés Cubas and Damián Bobadilla forming a disciplined double pivot that shields the back four. Almirón operates as the advanced ten or right midfielder, pressing high and linking play. Build-up is direct rather than elaborate — Paraguay look to win the ball back quickly and transition through Almirón or wide runners like Ramón Sosa before the opposition can reset.

The engine of Paraguay's attack runs through Miguel Almirón, whose relentless pressing and late runs into the box made him an MLS icon at Atlanta United after years terrorising Premier League defences at Newcastle. Julio Enciso brings the unpredictability — a low centre of gravity, sudden acceleration, and the kind of audacious long-range strikes that lit up Brighton before his move to Strasbourg. Diego Gómez, still developing at Brighton, offers progressive passing and the composure to dictate tempo from deep.

Paraguay's defensive block, anchored by the experienced Gustavo Gómez at Palmeiras and the combative Fabián Balbuena, is genuinely difficult to break down. Almirón's pressing intensity sets the tone for the whole team, and Enciso's ability to produce a moment of individual brilliance can unlock any defence from nothing.

The forward line beyond Enciso is thin on top-level European experience — Antonio Sanabria is at Cremonese in Serie B, and Gabriel Ávalos and Alex Arce are untested at this level. Paraguay also lack a genuine creative playmaker who can unlock deep defences through combination play when direct transitions are neutralised.