The Paraguay women's national football team represents
Paraguay
Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...
in international
women's football Women's football most often refers to:
* Women's association football
Women's football may also refer to:
* Women's gridiron football
* Women's Australian rules football
* Ladies' Gaelic football
* Women's rugby league
* Women's rugby union
...
and is controlled by the
Paraguayan Football Association
The Paraguayan Football Association ( ; APF) (Guarani language, Guarani: ''Paraguái Mangapy Atyguasu''), is the omnibus governing body of football (soccer), football in Paraguay. It organizes the Paraguayan football league system, Paraguayan fo ...
(Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol). ''La Albirroja'' has never reached the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...
finals, but has finished fourth in both the
2006 Sudamericano Femenino and the
2022 Copa América Femenina
The 2022 Copa América Femenina was the 9th edition of the main international women's association football, women's football championship in South America, the Copa América Femenina, for national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. The competition ...
, the only time they were not eliminated in the Group stage. Most of Paraguay's matches are in competitions rather than friendlies, although that has started to change in recent times.
History
1998 South American Women's Football Championship
After not entering the
1991
It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...
and
1995
1995 was designated as:
* United Nations Year for Tolerance
* World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War
This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
Copa America Femenina, Paraguay made their international debut against
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
at the
1998 South American Women's Football Championship
The 1998 South American Women's Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol Femenino 1998'') was held in Mar del Plata, Argentina between 1 & 15 March. It was the third staging of the Sudamericano Femenino and determined the CONM ...
. Their first official match ended in the best way, defeating the Uruguayans 3–2 in
Mar del Plata
Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Argentine Sea, Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón Partido, General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires ...
in
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
. However, losses to
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
by the score of 3–0 eliminated them from the competition. They capped off their first appearance at the championship with a 3–2 win over
Bolivia.
2003 South American Women's Football Championship
Heading into their second
championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
, the groups were regionalised, so they were drawn into a group containing
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...
and
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
, where games would take place at the
Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena
Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena () is a football stadium in Salta, Argentina, built for the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship. It holds 20,408 people and is now the home ground of Juventud Antoniana and Central Norte, both playing currently in ...
in
Salta
Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Salta Province, the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the List of cities in Argentina, 7th most-populous ...
. With only the group winners advancing, a 3–0 loss to Argentina effectively ended their chances of progression. A 3–1 win against Uruguay, meant they finished second.
2006 South American Women's Football Championship
For the third time, the Paraguayans arrived in Argentina for the
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...
. After the format was reverted to the same one used in
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
, two groups of five. This championship was their most successful championship in their history, overcoming, Bolivia 5–1, Venezuela 3–1 and Peru 2–1 to historically advance to the second round behind Brazil. With the top two in the second round qualifying for the
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but the outbreak o ...
, this was the closest Paraguay had become to making a major tournament. They started their second-round campaign with a tense and respectable 0–0 draw against the hosts Argentina. Although, they would get thumped by Brazil 6–0 in their next game, with
Cristiane scoring four goals for the Brazilians. Despite the heavy loss, Paraguay knew a win over Uruguay in the last match could give them hope of an unlikely dream World Cup debut. But after holding the lead twice against Uruguay, the Uruguayans came back to lead and eventually won 3–2, meaning Paraguay were overtaken by Uruguay to finish fourth. This would remain their best tournament result until
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
. They also won the Fair Play Award.
2007 Pan American Games
Their fourth-place finish in 2006 meant Las Guaraníes qualified for the
2007 Pan American Games
The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...
in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
, their first tournament that the team had ever qualified for. However, in a group containing the United States U20 team, Mexico, Argentina and Panama, they struggled to stay competitive, losing all three of their four games, with the exception being a 1–1 draw with the Panamanians, where
Francisca Agüero scored a stoppage-time equaliser. Despite the point, Paraguay still came of their group at their debut Pan Americans Games.
2010 South American Women's Football Championship
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
(held in Ecuador) saw Paraguay grouped with Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela and Uruguay. In the end, they had a decent tournament, garnering two wins out of four. However, they failed to recreate their 2006 performance and crashed out in the first round, finishing third in group B below Brazil and Colombia. Also, due to this result, they failed to make the
2011 Pan American Games
The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...
.
2014 Copa América Femenina
Hosted by Ecuador again, Brazil, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia were Paraguay's challengers in
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
. Las Guaraníes had a pretty unlucky tournament. After taking a shock lead against the Brazilians, they lost 4–1 in their opening match. That was followed by another defeat, this time from Argentina, by the score of 1–0. But, surprisingly, a 10–2 win over Bolivia and a 3–2 comeback win over Chile had put Paraguay into a position where all they needed was for underdogs Argentina to lose to Brazil and their passage to the second round was secured on a three-way tie. However, disappointingly, Argentina triumphed 2–0 over Brazil and would advance instead, ending Paraguay's hopes of making the
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the f ...
and
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
.
2018 Copa América Femenina
Paraguay decided to put a bid in the
2018 edition, but lost the bidding process to Chile. There was also more optimism due to numerous Paraguay youth teams making U20 and U17 Women's World Cups between 2014 and 2018. Aiming for their first major tournament, Paraguay were third seeds and were drawn into group A where they were pitted against Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Peru. In this evenly matched group, La Albirroja played hosts Chile and gained a hard-fought point after a 1–1 draw. Paraguay took the lead eight minutes into the second half through
Gloria Villamayor. But nine minutes later, the Chileans equalised to end the game all square. Their second game involving the Peruvians gave Paraguay their first win of the tournament, winning 3–0. They were frustrated by Peru for 70 minutes but scored three goals in the last 20 to secure the win. Next, Las Guaraníes played Colombia, where a hat trick by
Catalina Usme
María Catalina Usme Pineda (born 25 December 1989), known as Catalina Usme, is a Colombian footballer who plays as a forward for Turkish Women's Super League club Galatasaray and the Colombia women's national team.
Club career
Usme has ...
saw Paraguay be dealt a damaging 5–1 loss. That would prove costly since their main rivals in the group, Chile, had drawn against the Colombians earlier in the tournament to give them an edge over the Parguayans. After missing the previous matchday, Paraguay overcame a 1-goal deficit to defeat Uruguay 2–1, with a ninety-second-minute goal through a volley by
Amada Peralta. However, their slight hopes of progression were squashed as Chile beat Peru 5–0 to advance over the Paraguayans. Despite the disappointment, their performance was enough to secure a spot in the
2019 Pan American Games
The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...
- their second appearance at the event.
2019 Pan American Games
In their second-ever appearance at the
Pan American Games
The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...
, Paraguay had a much more successful tournament. After topping their group with seven points after wins over Mexico and Jamaica, plus a draw with Colombia, their semi-final match against Argentina couldn't have gone worse. They conceded three goals in the first half to comfortably lose 3–0 against Argentina. In the bronze medal match, where they played Costa Rica, a late goal by
Daniela Cruz for the Costa Rican meant the Paraguayans would go home without a medal.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
;Legend
2024
2025
Coaching staff
Current coaching staff
Manager history
*
Eduardo Poletti (
2003
2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater.
In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War.
Demographic ...
)
*
Esteban von Lucken (2006)
*
Agustín Cabrera
Agustín is a Spanish given name and sometimes a surname. It is related to Augustín.
People with the name include:
Given name
* Agustín Adorni (born 1990), Argentine footballer
* Agustín Allione (born 1994), Argentine footballer
* Ag ...
(
2006
2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
Events
January
* January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute.
* January 12 – A stampede during t ...
)
*
Nelson Basualdo (
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
)
*
Julio Gómez (
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
)
*
Rubén Subeldía (
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
)
*
Epifania Benítez (2019–2021)
*
Marcello Frigerio (2021–2023)
* Antonio Carlos Bona (2024–)
Players
Current squad
*The following players have been called up for the
friendly matches against
Uruguay
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...
on 22 and 25 February 2025.
''
Caps
Caps are flat headgear.
Caps or CAPS may also refer to:
Science and technology Computing
* CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters
* Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...
noted are current as of 8 April 2021, after the match against
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, per the above sources.''
Recent call-ups
* The following players have been called up to a Paraguay squad in the past 12 months.
Records
* Active players in bold, statistics correct as of 2020.
Most capped players
Top goalscorers
Competitive record
FIFA Women's World Cup
:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on
penalty kicks.''
Olympic Games
:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''
CONMEBOL Copa América Femenina
:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''
Pan American Games
:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''
CONCACAF W Gold Cup
:''*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.''
See also
*
Sport in Paraguay
Sport in Paraguay is an important part of national culture. Association football is the most popular sport, while basketball is also very popular. Other sports such as padel, volleyball, futsal, swimming and tennis are popular as well. Other Par ...
**
Football in Paraguay
Football is by far the most popular sport in Paraguay. 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 in ...
*** Women's football in Paraguay
*
Paraguay women's national under-20 football team
The Paraguayan U-20 women's national football team is the national under-20 women's association football team of Paraguay. They are controlled by the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol. They finished 2nd in their debut at the South American Under-20 ...
*
Paraguay women's national under-17 football team
*
Paraguay men's national football team
References
External links
absoluta-femeninaOfficial websiteFIFA profile
{{South American Football
South American women's national association football teams