Paraguay vs Brazil

Allegiant Stadium is the venue as Paraguay and Brazil go head-to-head in a high-stakes Copa America 2024 showdown.

Conceding two unanswered first-half goals eventually condemned Paraguay to a 2-1 loss to Colombia in their curtain-raising Group D fixture despite pulling one back midway through the second half. Another failed attempt to take three points would likely result in Paraguay’s group-stage elimination for the first time since 2016 when the United States coincidentally last hosted the tournament. With Brazil lining up against Daniel Garnero’s side, Paraguay’s hopes of avoiding that scenario are in tatters, considering the Paraguayans haven’t defeated the ‘Selecao’ inside 90 minutes in any of their last nine H2Hs (D5, L4). Adding to this sentiment, they’re without a goal in four consecutive encounters against Brazil (D1, L3). Another scoring blank is a distinct possibility, with Paraguay netting just three goals across their last ten outings.

On the other hand, Brazil couldn’t have hoped for a worse start to their Copa America campaign as they shared the spoils with North American minnows Costa Rica in a tepid 0-0. Despite going unbeaten in all five internationals under new manager Dorival Junior (W2, D3), the record-time world champions are far from their best version, casting doubt on their bid to land a landmark 10th Copa America title, a feat achieved by only Argentina and Uruguay. With that in mind, Brazil will cherish the upcoming clash against Paraguay, knowing they thumped them 4-0 when the two teams last met in a FIFA World Cup Qualifier in February 2022. Another goal galore might not be required, considering the Brazilians have only conceded four goals across their 14 most recent Copa America fixtures.