Türkiye 0–1 Paraguay: Galarza's lightning strike eliminates Montella's side

Paraguay re-ignited their 2026 World Cup campaign with a 1–0 win over Türkiye in their Group D meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area, with Matías Galarza striking inside the opening minute for the fastest goal of the tournament. Andrés Cubas won possession and fed Julio Enciso, whose flick released Galarza to drive a low left-footed effort through the legs of Merih Demiral and past Uğurcan Çakır after roughly 64 seconds.

Türkiye dominated the rest of the contest, monopolising possession and peppering the Paraguay goal, but could not find a way through. Mert Müldür rattled the woodwork with a header off a free-kick routine, striking both bar and post, while further chances fell to Kenan Yıldız, Can Uzun and Deniz Gül without reward.

Paraguay's task was complicated on the stroke of half-time when Miguel Almirón was sent off in first-half stoppage time, dismissed for covering his mouth during a confrontation with Müldür under new IFAB transparency rules. Reduced to ten men, Paraguay held firm for the rest of the match. The result eliminated Vincenzo Montella's Türkiye after back-to-back group defeats, while Paraguay stayed alive ahead of their group-closing fixture against Australia.