Paraguay vs Chile

Estadio Defensores del Chaco is the venue as Paraguay and Chile hope to fight their way back into World Cup qualification contention.

The clock is ticking for Paraguay, who cannot catch a break in the ongoing World Cup qualifying cycle. Since beating South American minnows Venezuela 2-1 at home in September, the Paraguayans have gone winless in their subsequent three World Cup qualifiers (D1, L2), drawing a blank in each of them. A humiliating 4-0 defeat away to Bolivia last time out dropped Paraguay four points behind the inter-confederation play-off spot, throwing their chances of reaching their first World Cup finals since 2010 into doubt. Coming back to home soil may not be as comforting as it might seem at first glance, as ‘Los Guaraníes’ have won just one of their six 2022 World Cup qualifying fixtures (D4, L1), scoring one goal or less in three of the last four.

In the meantime, after picking up only one victory from their opening ten 2022 World Cup qualifying games (D4, L5), Chile have won the last two in a row by an aggregate score of 5-0. A notable upturn in form has seen the Chileans climb up the ladder and approach to within a three-point distance from fifth-placed Uruguay. One of the abovementioned triumphs came at the expense of Paraguay in Santiago, effectively putting a three-game losing H2H run to bed. That provides head coach Martin Lasarte with a platform to build on as ‘La Roja’ chase their first away victory in the current World Cup qualifying campaign after six failed attempts (D2, L4). Snapping that run will require Chile to defy their measly scoring return on the road that has seen them net an average of 0.66 goals per 2022 World Cup away qualifier.