USA vs Paraguay Predictions - Paraguay to hold USA in hosts opener

John Eastwood

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Last updated: 2 hours ago

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John Eastwood 2 hours ago

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USA winless in 7 of last 13 matches; recent defensive issues.
Paraguay unbeaten in 20 of last 24 matches with strong defense.
Prediction: Evenly matched game likely to end in a draw (1-1).

Paraguay have lost just 4 of their last 24 matches (Getty)

USA vs Paraguay Predictions

The USA have not been very good in recent friendlies while Paraguay are heavily reliant on their defence. I expect the crowd to get the USA going, but ultimately this to end in a stalemate.

USA vs Paraguay Predictions
Head to Head
USA Form
Paraguay Form
USA vs Paraguay News & Predicted Lineups

USA are winless in 7 of their last 13 matches.
USA have seen BTTS in 7 of their last 8 matches.
Paraguay are unbeaten in 20 of their last 24 matches.
Paraguay have seen BTTS in 3 of their last 5 matches.

Head to Head

USA have dominated this encounter in nine matches. The World Cup hosts have won it five times, Paraguay have two victories while there has also been two draws.

USA Form

USA started 2026 with a horrible defensive performance and a 5-2 home loss against Belgium where they gained an early lead through Weston McKennie but then conceded five unanswered goals.

A couple of days later, they were also beaten by Portugal 2-0, while this losing streak ended earlier this month with a 3-2 thriller win against Senegal thanks to Christian Pulisic who registered one goal and one assist.

The Stars and Stripes were beaten in their final test game before the World Cup 2026 by Germany 2-1, ending the match with 0.99-1.54 expected goals, 54% possession and 16-12 shots. Antonee Robinson was their sole scorer in the first half.

Paraguay Form

Strong defending was the main reason why Paraguay qualified for the World Cup 2026 from the South American bracket, ending as 6th with seven wins, seven draws and four losses, conceding just 10 goals.

Their results in late March friendlies were mixed, starting with a narrow 1-0 win over Greece, followed by a 2-1 defeat against Morocco.

Paraguay opted for just one test match in June and they delivered against Nicaragua, winning the encounter 4-0 in front of the home crowd in Asuncion, allowing just 28% possession and zero shots to the opposition.

USA vs Paraguay News & Predicted Lineups

USA (4-2-3-1) Matt Turner; Sergino Dest, Chris Richards, Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson; Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie; Timothy Weah, Giovanni Reyna, Christian Pulisic; Folarin Balogun

Weston McKennie, Christian Pulisic and Folarin Balogun are expected to make the difference for the Star and Stripes in this tournament. Pulisic has the most appearances for the national team on this roster (86) and is also the top scorer (33 goals), but his recent form hasn't been great after recovering from an ankle injury. Balogun netted 13 goals for Monaco in Ligue 1 this season.

Paraguay (4-2-3-1) Carlos Coronel; Juan Jose Caceres, Gustavo Gomez, Omar Alderete, Diego Leon; Andres Cubas, Damian Bobadilla; Miguel Almiron, Diego Gomez, Julio Enciso; Antonio Sanabria

Paraguay's main star player is Miguel Almiron who made a move from Newcastle to Atlanta last season. He is at 76 appearances and 10 goals for the national team. The South American side have no reported injuries ahead of the first round.

Verdict

USA v Paraguay

Almost 40% of Paraguay’s World Cup qualifying matches have ended without a winner, and since USA’s recent form hasn’t been great, I am backing these sides to share the spoils in Inglewood.

BTTS Yes

Both Teams to Score

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