Mondiale U17 Brasile 2019

FIFA U-17 World Cup record

This will be Paraguay’s fifth World Cup appearance at this level and third in a row.
Their best showing to date, a quarter-final appearance, came on their debut at New Zealand 1999.
At Trinidad and Tobago 2011 and Chile 2015, they failed to survive the group phase, while at India 2017 they bowed out in the round of 16.

The road to Brazil

Los Guarani finished third at the South American U-17 Championship in Peru, where some courageous and defensively solid displays in the Hexagonal final phase proved key.
The preceding group phase did yield good wins over Uruguay and Colombia, but also featured a high number of goals conceded.
In the final phase, victory over Peru and draws with Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador made the difference.

The coach - Gustavo Morinigo

Although he has overseen more U-17 international games than any other Paraguay coach, his career has been about much more than youth football.
In 2014 Morinigo guided Nacional to a surprise appearance in the final of the Copa Libertadores.
He then took charge of the Paraguayan youth set-up in 2015, interrupted by a brief spell at Cerro Porteno.
Brazil 2019 will be his second World Cup in the category, having already led the team in India two years ago.
As a player, he represented Paraguay at the U-20 World Cup in 1997 and the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan™.

Did you know…?

Cerro Porteno’s Fernando Ovelar is the youngest player to ever score in Paraguay’s gran clásico. The striker was aged just 14 years, nine months and 27 days when he found the net against Olimpia in 2018.
Fabrizio Peralta was Paraguay’s top scorer in the qualifiers with 3 goals.

Group F

Confederation: #CONMEBOL

South America Appearances: 4th Out of 18

Qualification: 2019 South American U17 Championships 3rd Place

Best Finish: Quarterfinals

Sports Poets Society