Argentina vs Paraguay Prediction & Betting Tips - World Cup

Prediction published on 11/10/2023, 07:18  by Joseph King | Modified on 12/10/2023 at 11:00 in World Cup Prediction

Second-place Argentina take on sixth-place Paraguay for the third of 18 matches in the notoriously grueling CONMEBOL region of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. The world champions have carried over the momentum from their triumph in Qatar with six consecutive wins since hoisting the World Cup trophy. They kicked off the new campaign with a 1-0 home win over Ecuador before cruising past Bolivia 3-0 in La Paz. La Albiceleste are looking unstoppable on both sides of the ball at the moment. They have scored 17 goals and are yet to concede on their current six match winning run post-2022 World Cup. It’s still up in the air whether or not Lionel Messi will see any game time here but the 36-year-old has reportedly recovered from his injury and is available for selection. His addition would of course be a huge boost but the hosts will still be expected to record a comfortable victory with or without the Inter Miami player.

Paraguay have missed out on the last three World Cups but will have a golden opportunity to end that in 2026. The expanded format means that six of the 10 CONMEBOL teams will automatically qualify while seventh-place enters into an inter-continental playoff. After an eighth-place finish in the 2022 qualifiers, they’ll be aiming for at least a playoff spot this time around. Paraguay began the qualifying campaign with a 0-0 home draw with Peru, a disappointing result considering Peru were reduced to 10 men in the first half. They were once again unable to break through opposition defense in their second outing, falling to a 1-0 away loss to Venezuela. The results are the latest in a poor run of form for the Albirroja. Paraguay have now lost four of their last six matches overall and have managed only a single win in their last seven.