Argentina suffered a shock defeat to Paraguay in their CONMEBOL 2026 World Cup Qualifiers, MySportDab reports.
The 2022 World Cup and 2024 Copa America champions surrended an early one-goal lead to settle for a 2-1 loss to the hosts.
Inter Milan forward Lautaro Martinez opened the scoring for side in the 11th minute.
Eight minutes after going in front, Paraguay fought back to scorer the leveler through Sanabria in the 19th minute.
Sanabria’s goal was enough to tie the score the at break as they settled for a 1-1 draw.
In the second half, Paraguay got off to a terrific start as it took the hosts just two minutes to complete the comeback and fire themselves into the lead.
Alderete scored the second for the hosts to turn the game on its head and made it 2-1.
Trailing by a lone goal, Argentina made concerted efforts to find the leveler but couldn’t.
Lautaro Martinez had a chance to score the equalizer but missed it, including other big chances.
Despite the pressure, Paraguay held onto the tenuous 2-1 lead to secure all three points and boost their chances of securing automatic qualification slot for the tournament.
The win has seen the team go four-point clear of the intercontinental playoff and closing in on automatic qualification for the competition.
On the other hand, Argentina still retain their top spot on the rankings despite the shock defeat with 22 points.
However, they could be tied on points with Colombia, who have 19 points and a game in hand.
In the other fixture, Venezuela, who are occupying the intercontinental playoff spot held Brazil to a 1-1 draw.
See Full Highlights of Paraguay vs Argentina match below
