It took 65 seconds. Matías Galarza took one touch to set himself and drilled a long-range strike past Altay Bayındır from outside the box, and suddenly Paraguay had the fastest goal of World Cup 2026 — snatching the record off Ismael Saibari, whose 71-second half-volley had stood for all of about ten hours after Morocco's win over Scotland earlier in the same day. Levi's Stadium hadn't even finished its midnight kickoff fireworks before Türkiye were chasing the game.
What followed for the rest of the half was Türkiye dominating the ball — close to 80% possession at points — without finding a way through a well-organized Paraguayan low block. Mert Müldür came closest, glancing a header off a free-kick cross against the crossbar and then the post in a sequence that drew gasps but no goal. Then, right before the break, the match turned on a moment nobody at this World Cup had seen before: Miguel Almirón, remonstrating with a Turkish opponent after a hard challenge, covered his mouth while talking. Under FIFA's newly enforced anti-sledging law — instituted after the Vinícius Júnior–Gianluca Prestianni lip-reading row and immediately nicknamed the "Vini Jr. Rule" — that gesture is an automatic dismissal. The referee didn't hesitate. Almirón was off, and Paraguay would play the entire second half a man down while protecting a 1-0 lead.
Vincenzo Montella, increasingly animated on the touchline, was shown a yellow card of his own for protesting a stoppage in play. He threw on Barış Yılmaz for Kerem Aktürkoğlu and later brought on Deniz Gül and Cenk Tosun-era replacement options in search of an equalizer that never arrived — Arda Güler's best chance, a shot from the edge of the box, sailed over the bar. Gustavo Alfaro's response was pragmatic rather than expansive: Damián Bobadilla replaced Antonio Sanabria's strike partner late on, and Paraguay simply absorbed everything Türkiye could throw at them for 45-plus minutes with ten men. The final whistle confirmed it: Paraguay's first win of the tournament, a first-ever sending-off under the new rule, and a Group D table that's suddenly far more dramatic than anyone expected after matchday 1.
A new disciplinary law is only theoretical until someone gets sent off under it. Almirón is now a permanent footnote in World Cup history — the first man dismissed for covering his mouth. Expect every player at this tournament to think twice before muttering anything with a hand near their face.
Forty-five-plus minutes with ten men, protecting a single goal against a team enjoying 80% of the ball, is not a stylistic triumph — it's a survival exercise. Alfaro's side passed it. That's a result Paraguay can build a campaign on.
Two games, zero points, zero goals scored. Güler's quality was evident but isolated. Montella now needs a big result in the final group game to avoid an early flight home — and he's picked up a yellow card of his own along the way.
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 USA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +5 | 6 |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 🇵🇾 Paraguay | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 3 |
| 🇹🇷 Türkiye | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -3 | 0 |
USA are already through to the knockout stage. Australia hold second on goal difference over Paraguay. Türkiye are bottom and winless after two — they'll need a big result and help elsewhere in the final round to survive Group D.