On the morning of September 11, Beijing time, in the 8th round of the South American zone of the World Preliminaries, Brazil played away against Paraguay. Brazil, with a total value of 940 million euros, lost 0-1 away to Paraguay, ranked 62nd in the world, and broke out a big upset! For the first time in 16 years, Brazil lost to Paraguay in regulation time, a shame of 16 years. In the last 5 World Preliminary Matches, Brazil has lost 4 games, and Brazil, with 10 points in 8 rounds, is still in 5th place, but only 1 point ahead of Bolivia and Paraguay behind them.
In the last World Qualifier, Brazil won 1-0 against Ecuador and Paraguay drew 0-0 with Uruguay. In this game, Brazil discharged the Real Madrid trident of Rodrygo, Endrick and Vinicius, and Guimarães and Paqueta sat in the midfield.
Brazil dominated possession, but it was Paraguay who opened the scoring first. In the 19th minute, Paraguay scored a super world wave:
Paraguay's cross was cleared, Diego Gomez won the ball, shook off the defense with a right-footed smash and volleyed with his left foot from 20 meters! The ball hit the post and bounced into the net, giving Paraguay a 1-0 lead!
In Brazil's defense this time, Guimaraes, who played as a midfielder, did not play any role in pressing, grabbing and interfering, allowing Diego Gomez to adjust his feet and blast out the world. Paraguay, ranked 62nd in the world, has pushed Brazil into a corner.
Brazil fell behind 1-0 in the first half, the front trident Rodrygo, Vinicius and Endrick were isolated, and Guimaraes and Paqueta in midfield struggled to deliver good balls. The attack has no suddenness and lacks sharpness, and such Brazil feels strange.
In the rematch, Brazil replaced Endrick and Guimaraes with Joao Pedro and Luis Enrique. Throughout the first half, Endrick, who played for Real Madrid, had 0 shots, 0 threatening passes, 0 successful dribbles, 11 touches of the ball, and 6 lost possession, with a very low sense of presence.
Vinicius wanted to try a one-man attack, and in the 75th minute, Vinicius dribbled sideways on the left and fired a powerful right-footed shot from the goalkeeper, which was a rare threat in Brazil's game.
In the 86th minute, Brazil replaced Estéwang (Messiinho) and replaced left-back Alana in an attempt to make a last-ditch effort. Paraguay retreated across the board and formed a bus formation.
After 6 minutes of stoppage time, the game ended at full-time, and the big upset of the world preliminary round was born: Brazil lost 0-1 away! The last time Brazil lost to Paraguay was in the quarter-finals of the Copa America in 2015, losing 3-4 on penalties. If you only look at regular time, the last time Brazil lost to Paraguay was a 2-0 loss in the World Qualifiers in June 2008, 16 years ago.