Turkey vs Paraguay Preview

Saturday’s early-hours Group D fixture at Levi’s Stadium sees Turkey take on Paraguay, with both sides desperate for a first win of the tournament after opening defeats to the United States and Australia. With USA and Australia both sitting on three points, this match is effectively a must-win for whoever wants to keep their qualification hopes realistic heading into the final round.

Turkey’s tournament opener ended in a 2-0 defeat away to Australia on 14th June, a disappointing start given their strong recent record. Prior to that, they won 2-1 away to Venezuela in a pre-tournament friendly. Before that, a commanding 4-0 home win over North Macedonia. Earlier in this run they won 1-0 away to Kosovo, and in their oldest result here they beat Romania 1-0 at home. The Crescent-Stars have been in excellent form heading into the tournament and will look to bring that consistency back after a single setback.

Paraguay’s World Cup bow brought a 4-1 defeat at home to the United States on 13th June, a result that exposed defensive frailties against a clinical opponent. Prior to that, they beat Nicaragua 4-0 at home in a friendly. Before that, they lost 2-1 away to Morocco. Earlier in this run they won 1-0 away to Greece, and in their oldest result here they won 2-1 away to Mexico. La Albirroja have shown they can trouble strong opposition on the road, and that experience could prove valuable here.

The sole previous meeting between these sides ended goalless, with Paraguay hosting Turkey to a 0-0 draw in June 1995 — the only fixture on record between the two nations.

Both sides currently sit on zero points, level on points with a goal difference of minus two and minus three respectively, with Paraguay’s record marginally worse. A win for either side would move them to three points and right back into contention, while another defeat would leave qualification hopes hanging by a thread heading into the final round against the group’s top two.

In the UK, this match is live on ITV 1 and available to stream via ITVX. In the United States, viewers can watch on Fox Sports 1 or fuboTV. Turkish viewers can follow the action on TRT 1 or TRT Spor, while Paraguayan fans can tune in on GEN or Trece.

Lineups & Injuries

Turkey (4-2-3-1) Çakir, Çelik, Demiral, Bardakci, Kadioglu, Çalhanoglu, Yüksek, Kökçü, Güler, Yildiz, Aktürkoglu

Paraguay (4-4-2) Gill, Câceres, Alderete, Aldrete, Gómez, Alonso, Cubas, Enciso, Almirón, Gómez, Mauricio

Turkey: No specific absentees, though Kenan Yildiz was only fit enough for the bench in the opener and is expected to start here.

Paraguay: Five players navigating yellow card trouble following the group opener.

Paraguay’s disciplinary situation is the more pressing concern, with five players one booking away from suspension, while Turkey’s main team news centres on getting Yildiz back into the starting eleven after a late return from the bench.

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Group D Table

Pos	Team	MP	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	P
1	USA	1	1	0	0	4	1	+3	3
2	Australia	1	1	0	0	2	0	+2	3
3	Turkey	1	0	0	1	0	2	-2	0
4	Paraguay	1	0	0	1	1	4	-3	0

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Turkey Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	Australia	2-0	Turkey	World Cup	14.06.26
✅	Venezuela	1-2	Turkey	Friendly	06.06.26
✅	Turkey	4-0	North Macedonia	Friendly	01.06.26
✅	Kosovo	0-1	Turkey	World Cup	31.03.26
✅	Turkey	1-0	Romania	World Cup	26.03.26

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Paraguay Form

Result	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
❌	USA	4-1	Paraguay	World Cup	13.06.26
✅	Paraguay	4-0	Nicaragua	Friendly	05.06.26
❌	Morocco	2-1	Paraguay	Friendly	31.03.26
✅	Greece	0-1	Paraguay	Friendly	27.03.26
✅	Mexico	1-2	Paraguay	Friendly	19.11.25

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Head-to-Head

Home Team	Score	Away Team	Competition	Date
Paraguay	0-0	Turkey	Friendly	17.06.95

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TV Listings / Streaming

Country	Channel
Great Britain	ITV 1 UK, ITVX, BBC Radio 5 Live
Ireland	ITV 1 UK, RTE 2, ITVX, RTE Player
USA	Fox Sports 1, fuboTV, Telemundo
Turkey	TRT 1, TRT Spor, Digiturk Play, tabii
Paraguay	GEN, Trece, POPU TV, Unicanal
France	beIN Sports 1, beIN SPORTS CONNECT
Germany	SRF zwei, MagentaTV
Australia	SBS, SBS On Demand
Canada	TSN1, TSN+, RDS
Italy	DAZN Italia