Almirón's Historic Red Card Not Enough as Paraguay Beats Turkey in World Cup

Paraguay stunned Turkey on Saturday, June 20, in San Francisco, winning 1-0 in a World Cup Group D encounter. The drama started early: just 65 seconds into the match, Galarza scored after a pass from Julio Enciso, firing the ball into the bottom corner. It was one of the fastest goals of the tournament and the quickest by a South American team in a World Cup since 1998, when Celso Ayala scored after 52 seconds against Nigeria.

Turkey quickly recovered and took control of possession. In the first half, Merih Demiral hit both posts in one action, while Arda Güler and Kenan Yıldız had several attempts blocked or saved. Paraguay’s defense and goalkeeper held firm.

In first-half stoppage time, Paraguay suffered a major blow. After a VAR review, Miguel Almirón was shown a straight red card for covering his mouth while commenting to an opponent. FIFA’s new rule penalizes attempts to hide verbal communication by covering the mouth. This left Paraguay with ten men for the entire second half.

In the second half, Turkey laid siege to Paraguay’s penalty area. Goalkeeper Orlando Gill made several saves from Demiral, Güler, Yıldız, and Deniz Gül, while Gustavo Gómez cleared a shot off the line. Turkey had 80% possession in the second half and took 20 shots, but only four were on target. Overall, Turkey had 32 shots, with just five on goal.

Late in the game, Turkey had several chances to equalize. In the seventh minute of stoppage time, Demiral’s header went just wide of the post, and soon after the final whistle blew. Turkey lost two consecutive World Cup matches for the first time in their history.

After this match, the USA leads Group D with 6 points, Australia and Paraguay have 3 each, and Turkey remains pointless. Turkey will face Australia next.