2026 World Cup: Turkey eliminated after another defeat against Paraguay

Turkey is already out of the 2026 World Cup. Beaten 1-0 by Paraguay on the second day of the group stage, Vincenzo Montella's men have recorded a second consecutive defeat and are officially eliminated even before their last match against the United States.

Returning to the World Cup after a 24-year absence, the Turkish national team hoped for a convincing performance. But after an opening defeat against Australia (2-0), the Turks once again lacked clinical finishing against Paraguay.

The turning point of the match came in the 2nd minute when Matias Galarza opened the scoring for the South Americans. Despite Miguel Almirón's dismissal before halftime, leaving Paraguay with ten men for the entire second half, Turkey never managed to break through. They created numerous chances, but to no avail.

This offensive inefficiency perfectly sums up the tournament for Mert Müldür's teammates. In two matches, Turkey attempted 62 shots but failed to score a single goal. Only 12 shots were on target, a far from sufficient output at this level of competition.

Having come on as a substitute, Can Uzun thought he had snatched an equalizer in the dying moments. In the 89th minute, the young midfielder was thwarted by a decisive intervention from Paraguayan goalkeeper Gill, whose save sealed his team's fate.

At the final whistle, Can Uzun, like Mert Müldür, couldn't hold back his tears. A symbolic image of the profound disappointment of a Turkish team that had high hopes for its return to the world stage, but which ultimately exits the competition in the group stage.