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Turkey and Paraguay face off in a crucial second Group D match at the 2026 World Cup. The game is scheduled to kick off in San Francisco at 6:00 AM Bulgarian time.
Both nations endured incredibly disappointing starts to their World Cup campaigns. Turkey began with a surprising 0-2 loss to Australia. This occurred despite the Turks registering a staggering 30 shots without scoring – the most by any team in regular time at a World Cup match since 1974.
However, prior to their defeat against the 'Socceroos,' Vincenzo Montella's side had been unbeaten since September of last year and hadn't lost two consecutive matches since March 2024, offering a glimmer of hope for the southern neighbors.
Paraguay, on the other hand, was thoroughly outplayed by co-hosts USA, suffering a disheartening 1-4 loss. Before this defeat, they had been on a four-match unbeaten streak in the World Cup group stages (2 wins, 2 draws), keeping three clean sheets in the process.
Gustavo Alfaro's team delivered a rather disappointing performance in their opening fixture and now needs to make amends. The challenge for Paraguay is their historical struggles against European nations at World Cups, having won only two of their last 14 such encounters (5 draws, 7 losses).
The only previous meeting between the two teams was a goalless draw in a friendly match way back in 1995.
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