Paraguay at the Copa América

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Midfielder Manuel Fleitas Solich appeared in five South American Championships in the 1920s as a player and led Paraguay to their first title in 1953 as coach.

The Copa América is South America's major tournament in senior men's football and determines the continental champion. Until 1967, the tournament was known as South American Championship. It is the oldest continental championship in the world.[1]

Paraguay can historically be considered South America's 'Best of the Rest' as they are ranked fourth in the Copa Américas All-Time table behind CONMEBOL's big three: Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

However, Paraguay's most successful era continentally was in the late 1940s culminating in their first tournament victory in 1953 while in recent decades Paraguay produced mediocre results. Even the 'Golden Generation', which continually qualified and produced good results at the FIFA World Cups from 1998–2010, never advanced beyond the quarter-finals at a Copa América until reaching the final once in 2011.

Overall record[]

Defender Heriberto Herrera played an integral part of the 1953 tournament winning squad. He is the only Paraguayan to be honoured as player of the tournament.
Players of Olimpia celebrating the victory of the 1979 Copa Libertadores. It was the first time the tournament was won by a Paraguayan club and a large block of players was part of the national squad that won the Copa América the same year. Integral players were Carlos Kiese, Flaminio Sosa and Roberto Paredes, among others.
South American Championship / Copa América record
Year Round Position Pld W D* L GF GA Squad
Argentina 1916 Did not enter
Uruguay 1917
Brazil 1919
Chile 1920
Argentina 1921 Fourth place 4th 3 1 0 2 2 7 Squad
Brazil 1922 Runners-up 2nd 4 2 1 1 5 3 Squad
Uruguay 1923 Third place 3rd 3 1 0 2 4 6 Squad
Uruguay 1924 Third place 3rd 3 1 1 1 4 4 Squad
Argentina 1925 Third place 3rd 4 0 0 4 4 13 Squad
Chile 1926 Fourth place 4th 4 1 0 3 8 20 Squad
Peru 1927 Did not enter
Argentina 1929 Runners-up 2nd 3 2 0 1 9 4 Squad
Peru 1935 Did not enter
Argentina 1937 Fourth place 4th 5 2 0 3 8 16 Squad
Peru 1939 Third place 3rd 4 2 0 2 9 8 Squad
Chile 1941 Did not enter
Uruguay 1942 Fourth place 4th 6 2 2 2 11 10 Squad
Chile 1945 Did not enter
Argentina 1946 Third place 3rd 5 2 1 2 8 8 Squad
Ecuador 1947 Runners-up 2nd 7 5 1 1 16 11 Squad
Brazil 1949 Runners-up 2nd 8 6 0 2 21 13 Squad
Peru 1953 Champions 1st 7 4 2 1 14 8 Squad
Chile 1955 Fifth place 5th 5 1 1 3 7 14 Squad
Uruguay 1956 Fifth place 5th 5 0 2 3 3 8 Squad
Peru 1957 Did not enter
Argentina 1959 Third place 3rd 6 3 0 3 12 12 Squad
Ecuador 1959 Fifth place 5th 4 0 1 3 6 11 Squad
Bolivia 1963 Runners-up 2nd 6 4 1 1 13 7 Squad
Uruguay 1967 Fourth place 4th 5 2 0 3 9 13 Squad
South America 1975 Group stage 7th 4 1 1 2 5 5 Squad
South America 1979 Champions 1st 6 3 3 0 9 3 Squad
South America 1983 Third place 3rd 2 0 2 0 1 1 Squad
Argentina 1987 Group stage 9th 2 0 1 1 0 3 Squad
Brazil 1989 Fourth place 4th 7 3 1 3 9 10 Squad
Chile 1991 Group stage 6th 4 2 0 2 7 8 Squad
Ecuador 1993 Quarter-finals 8th 4 1 1 2 2 7 Squad
Uruguay 1995 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 1 1 6 5 Squad
Bolivia 1997 Quarter-finals 7th 4 1 1 2 2 5 Squad
Paraguay 1999 Quarter-finals 6th 4 2 2 0 6 1 Squad
Colombia 2001 Group stage 10th 3 0 2 1 4 6 Squad
Peru 2004 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 1 1 5 5 Squad
Venezuela 2007 Quarter-finals 5th 4 2 0 2 8 8 Squad
Argentina 2011 Runners-up 2nd 6 0 5 1 5 8 Squad
Chile 2015 Fourth place 4th 6 1 3 2 6 12 Squad
United States 2016 Group stage 12th 3 0 1 2 1 3 Squad
Brazil 2019 Quarter-finals 8th 4 0 3 1 3 4 Squad
Brazil 2021 Quarter-finals 6th 5 2 1 2 8 6 Squad
Ecuador 2024 Qualified
Total 2 Titles 38/47 177 64 43 70 264 303 —

* Includes a 2–2 draw awarded to Peru.

Winning tournaments[]

1953 South American Championship[]

After coach Manuel Fleitas Solich took charge of the Paraguayan national team in 1947, he developed an already skillful team into title contestants. In 1947 and 1949, Los Guaraníes were consecutive vice-champions.

In 1949 and 1953 Paraguay was in the same situation before their last match of the group phase: Anything less than a win against Brazil would mean tournament victory for the opponent, while a win would force both teams into a play-off. Both times Paraguay won 2–1.

In the 1949 play-off, Brazil thrashed Paraguay 7–0 on home soil, taking revenge for the group match defeat along with tournament victory. In 1953 however, the Paraguayan's scored two early goals in the play-off, and led 3–0 by half-time, winning the match 3–2.

Paraguay 3–2 Brazil
López 14'
Gavilán 17'
Fernández 41'		 Baltazar 56', 65'
Estadio Nacional, Lima
Attendance: 35,000
Referee: Charles Dean England

1979 Copa América[]

1979 was the second edition of a revised Copa América which was not held as a local tournament, but spread over several months in a number of home-and-away-matches. In the group phase, opponent Uruguay slipped up in their first match against Ecuador, losing 1–2, and were held at bay by Paraguay with two draws. A closely contested semi-final saw Paraguay win 4–3 on aggregate over Brazil.

The rules for the final against Chile were that a play-off on neutral ground was to be played if the teams were equal on points after two legs. Goal difference would only come into play if the play-off also ended in a draw. After a 3–0 home win, but a 1–0 away defeat, the play-off was scheduled in Buenos Aires six days later. Drawing 0–0, Paraguay won on aggregate goals after that play-off. In total, Paraguay had to play nine matches to be crowned champions, a tournament record tied with Peru, who went through a similar ordeal four years earlier.

Paraguay 0–0 Chile
Attendance: 6,000

Record by opponent[]

Paraguay's highest victory at a Copa América was a 7–0 against Bolivia in 1949. Their highest defeat was a 0–8 against Argentina in 1926.

Copa América matches (by team)
Opponent W D L Pld GF GA
 Argentina 0 5 19 24 22 76
 Bolivia 7 2 1 10 28 7
 Brazil 7 10 13 30 30 61
 Chile 12 2 7 21 36 31
 Colombia 5 1 4 10 16 10
 Costa Rica 1 1 0 2 1 0
 Ecuador 9 3 3 15 26 15
 Jamaica 1 0 0 1 1 0
 Japan 1 0 0 1 4 0
 Mexico 1 1 1 3 2 7
 Peru 7 6 4 17 32 22
 Uruguay 6 6 14 26 33 54
 United States 1 0 1 2 3 2
 Venezuela 4 2 0 6 16 8
Total 62 39 67 168 253 293

Record players[]

Rank Player Matches Tournaments
1 Manuel Gavilán 20 1947, 1949 and 1953
Salvador Villalba 20 1955, 1956, 1959 (ARG) and 1959 (ECU)
3 Sinforiano García 19 1946, 1947 and 1949
Juan Torales 19 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1989
Carlos Gamarra 19 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2004
6 18 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1925
Manuel Fleitas Solich 18 1921, 1922, 1924, 1925 and 1926
Roberto Fernández 18 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1989
Roque Santa Cruz 18 1999, 2007, 2011 and 2015
Paulo da Silva 18 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2016

Top goalscorers[]

Rank Player Goals Tournaments (goals)
1 Juan Bautista Villalba 9 1946 (4) and 1947 (5)
2 8 1939 (3), 1942 (3) and 1949 (2)
3 7 1921 (1), 1922 (2), 1923 (1), 1924 (1) and 1925 (2)
Aurelio González 7 1929 (5) and 1937 (2)
Dionisio Arce 7 1949
Jorge Duílio Benítez 7 1949
Maximo Rolón 7 1955 (5) and 1956 (2)
Roque Santa Cruz 7 1999 (3), 2007 (3) and 2011 (1)
9 6 1921 (1), 1922 (1), 1923 (1), 1924 (2) and 1926 (1)
6 1947
José Aveiro 6 1959 (ARG)

Awards and records[]

Team Awards

  • Champions 2x (1953, 1979)
  • Second Place 6x (1922, 1929, 1947, 1949, 1963, 2011)
  • Third Place 7x (1923, 1924, 1925, 1939, 1959 (ARG), 1983)

Individual Awards[4]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Copa América". Encyclopædia Britannica. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  2. ^ Oliver, Guy (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness publishing. p. 561. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.
  3. ^ Oliver, Guy (1992). The Guinness Record of World Soccer. Guinness publishing. p. 567. ISBN 0-85112-954-4.
  4. ^ "The Copa América Archive". 19 July 2007. Retrieved 4 April 2019.

External links[]

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