Football in Paraguay
Football is by far the most popular sport in Paraguay, with approximately three-quarters of the people in Paraguay interested in football. Paraguay's national team has played at eight FIFA World Cup competitions and has won two Copa América tournaments. Olimpia Asunción is the country's most successful club in domestic and international competitions. Paraguay's football leagues are divided into four divisions. In 2020, Paraguay's top-tier was ranked 8th in the world by the IFFHS.
History
Football arrived to Paraguay in the late 1800s. There are differing versions as to how this happened. The most commonly held account is that of William Paats. This account has much primary source documentation As this version goes, football was first introduced in Paraguay by Dutchman William Paats, who moved from the Netherlands to Asunción in 1888. During a trip to Buenos Aires Paats bought a football and brought it back to Asunción in order to teach the sport, which was unknown among Paraguayans. At first, football was only practiced by the "elite" but it soon became very popular and spread quickly throughout the whole country to people of all social classes.Another version brings the genesis of football in Paraguay a bit further back, to 1886 and in the area around Borja. Miguel Angel Bestard, in his authoritative volume "Paraguay: One Century of Football" recounts a story about how English railroad workers organized games against the local Paraguayans. The English team was named "Everton", as a clear homage to the club from Liverpool, England, in the United Kingdom.
In 1900, small tournaments were held at the Plaza de Armas, a plaza located in downtown Asunción. Because of the huge success of the tournaments and the large attendances for the games, Paats decided to found the first Paraguayan football club, which he named Olimpia Football Club in 1902. By 1906 the number of football clubs in Paraguay had increased and the Paraguayan Football Association was founded. In 1910, Paraguay formed its first national squad to play against the squad from Corrientes, Argentina, but it would have to wait till 1919 for the Argentine national team to take a boat upriver on the Parana River and visit Asuncion for the first official international games Paraguay would ever play.
The Paraguayan Football Association joined CONMEBOL in 1921, and FIFA in 1925.
Football has grown enormously since then, and there are over 1600 teams spread throughout Paraguay participating in bla leagues. Each of those teams try to make their way to the first division by clearing the different levels of lower divisions. The growth and evolution of Paraguayan football can be seen in the achievements made in the club level and by the Paraguay national football team. The national team has participated in eight FIFA World Cups, won two Copa América tournaments, and earned a silver medal at the Olympic Games in 2004. All these accomplishments established Paraguay as the fourth most successful football nation in South America behind Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. At the club level, Olimpia Asunción has won a total of eight international tournaments, including three Copa Libertadores and one Intercontinental Cup.
Among the most important and successful football players in Paraguayan history are Arsenio Erico, Aurelio González, Romerito and José Luis Chilavert.
In 2016, Roque Santa Cruz was regarded as one of the best players in the nation's history.
National team
Paraguay's men's national team, nicknamed the Albirroja, is controlled by the Paraguayan Football Association. The team has qualified for eight FIFA World Cup competitions, with their best performance coming in 2010 when they reached the quarter-finals. Paraguay has been crowned champions of the Copa América on two occasions. Their highest FIFA World Rankings was 8th and their lowest was 103. Paraguay was awarded second place with Best Move of the Year in 1996 for their rise in the FIFA Rankings. The team's most successful period was under the coaching of Argentine Gerardo Martino, who was awarded with the South American Coach of the Year in 2007 and took Paraguay to the quarter-finals stage of the FIFA World Cup competition for the first time in history and also to the final of the 2011 Copa América, where Paraguay finished as runners-up. In Paraguay's entire history at the FIFA World Cup, only Carlos Gamarra and José Luis Chilavert have both been selected as part of the All-Star Team, being for the 1998 edition. Paulo da Silva holds the most appearances for the team with 148 matches and Roque Santa Cruz is the all-time leading goal scorer with 32 goals.The women's team of Paraguay, also known as Albirroja, has lesser success, having never qualified for a single FIFA Women's World Cup, but has seen its recent rise in fortune. In the 2022 Copa América Femenina, Paraguay reached the semi-finals for only the second time after 2006, though this means Paraguay is now certain to have a potential spot for the upcoming 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup or at least going to the playoff stage.
Television and Media
Television coverage of Paraguay's top-tier league, the Copa Paraguay and most of the second-tier, third-tier and fourth-tier leagues are televisionally transmitted by:- Multideporte
- Unicanal
- Tigo Sports
- Tigo Max
- Telefuturo
- Paravisión
- TVC Sports 2
- GolTV
- TVC Sports
League system
Paraguay's Football League System is divided into four divisions:Promotion to the top-tier, second-tier and third-tier leagues begins from the country's fourth-tier leagues, regional and metropolitana. A club is disaffiliated from the fourth division if it finishes the season in the last position of the table.
Past Paraguay national team players, including Enrique Vera, Óscar Cardozo, Nelson Haedo Valdez, Antolín Alcaraz, Elvis Marecos, Pablo Zeballos, Paulo da Silva, Cristian Riveros and Víctor Cáceres all began their careers in Paraguay's lower leagues.
As of the 2021 season, the winner of the División Intermedia would qualify directly for the Copa Sudamericana competition of the following season.
Seasons
Current season: 2021 in Paraguayan footballWomen's football
The Paraguayan women's football championship is the top level league competition for women's football in Paraguay. The winner qualifies for the Copa Libertadores de Fútbol Femenino, the South American Champions League. The competition is organised by the Paraguayan Football Association.Superclásico
The Paraguayan derby or superclásico is between Club Olimpia Asunción and Club Cerro Porteño.Players and records
Paraguayan Footballer of the Year
The Paraguayan Footballer of the Year is an award given to the best Paraguayan professional football player every year. The award began officially in 1997 and it is presented by Paraguayan newspaper ABC Color.| Year | Player | Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Carlos Gamarra |  Primera División Paraguaya TopscorersThe following list only comprises the professional era and is missing data from 1906 to 1934. A Top 10 table follows.
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