As the 2026 FIFA World Cup gets underway on U.S. soil, global soccer fans have turned their collective attention to the host nation’s squad. But for the tight-knit community of Paraguayans living across the United States, this tournament marks a far more personal milestone: the return of their beloved national team to the world’s biggest soccer stage after a 16-year drought.
Paraguay last qualified for the World Cup in 2010, when the squad recorded its best-ever finish, advancing all the way to the quarterfinals. This year’s appearance marks the ninth time the nation, currently ranked 40th globally by FIFA, has competed in the tournament. Drawn into Group D alongside the U.S., Turkey and Australia, Paraguay will face off against Australia on June 19 and Turkey on June 25, both matches hosted in Santa Clara, California.
For the estimated 37,000 Paraguayans calling the U.S. home, the moment has been decades in the making, and fans have been organizing watch parties, community gatherings and match-day celebrations across the country. While steep ticket prices for the opening Group D match against the U.S. — with some seats reselling for more than $1,000 apiece — have put the fixture out of reach for most local fans, many have scraped together funds to secure tickets for the team’s later matches in California.
Thirty-two-year-old Santiago Araujo is one of the lucky fans who scored tickets to Paraguay’s match against Australia, set to take place just 80 miles from his family’s Paraguayan restaurant, Cafe Guarani, in the coastal California town of Pacific Grove. Araujo, who moved to California with his family when he was 11 years old, says soccer is woven into the cultural identity of every Paraguayan. “Every Paraguayan I know wants to go,” he explained. “It’s not like there’s seasons of any other sports in Paraguay. I used to sleep with a soccer ball as my toy.”
His family’s restaurant is leaning into the excitement, hosting pre- and post-match celebrations that bring the local Paraguayan community together over traditional dishes including manioc empanadas and iced yerba mate. Similar gatherings are planned at I Love Paraguay Restaurant in Queens, New York, where a large concentration of Paraguayan Americans resides. Other major Paraguayan American communities are based in Bernardsville, New Jersey — an affluent town that Paraguayan President Santiago Peña visited in 2024.
For many fans, even the dream of attending a match comes with steep barriers. Ana Di Sessa, a Paraguayan American based in New Jersey, says she would love to travel to the California matches, but the combined cost of flights, accommodation and overpriced tickets puts the trip out of budget for most working-class fans. Zoraida Pereira, a 43-year-old travel agent based in Bernardsville who moved to the U.S. from Paraguay more than 30 years ago, says she has only sold travel packages for the later Santa Clara matches, as opening game prices are prohibitive for nearly all her clients. Even when forced to choose between her host and home nations on the pitch, Pereira’s loyalty is clear: “I am rooting for Paraguay this time around. They’ve been out for so long.”
For the team itself, the moment carries just as much emotional weight. Midfielder Miguel Almirón, a 32-year-old veteran who plies his club trade with Major League Soccer’s Atlanta United, grew up watching the 2010 World Cup squad and dreamed of one day getting the chance to compete on soccer’s global stage. “It’s going to be something beautiful in that moment, not just for me, but also for my family and for all the Paraguayan fans, and for anyone who’s been with us through all the tough moments,” Almirón said. “There are going to be a lot of emotions at that moment. We take it on with responsibility, because we know so many people are depending on us.”
That excitement extends 5,000 miles back to Paraguay, a small landlocked South American nation of roughly 7 million people bordered by Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil, best known for its vast grasslands, rich biodiversity and indigenous Guarani cultural heritage. A new documentary titled *El Renacer Albirrojo* (The Red-and-White Rebirth) chronicles the national team’s 16-year journey to qualify for the tournament, and the squad was sent off to the U.S. with a massive public celebration capped by fireworks. Many Paraguayan Americans report that friends and family are traveling from Paraguay to the U.S. to attend the matches, joining local fans to cheer on the team.
For 34-year-old Rodrigo Valdez, a computer engineer based in San Diego who was born in the U.S. but raised in Paraguay, the tournament is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Even with a 4-month-old newborn at home, his wife encouraged him to buy a ticket to the Australia match as a first Father’s Day gift. Valdez will drive more than 450 miles to Santa Clara to see the match, after gathering with local family and friends to watch the opening game against the U.S. in San Diego. “It was a unique opportunity for us that we are living in California,” he said. “It will be very meaningful.”