Turns out Paraguay Play Like Arseholes, Did That Make or Break Their Underdog Charm?

Did Paraguay's Shithousery vs France Go Too Far?

In football, everyone loves an underdog. Unless of course it's your team on the wrong end of a shock result, there are few better things in the sport than seeing an unfancied side take victory in a singular match or surprise by going deep towards the latter stages of a tournament.

The 2026 World Cup in North America has seen new underdogs capture the hearts of many neutrals this summer. In particular Cabo Verde, who have stunned the world to reach the knockout stage of the tournament and reach the round of 32 stage, finishing above two times winnger Urugray to finish second in their group. Before taking current world champions Argentina to extra time before narrowly being beaten 3-2.

Cabo Verde won the acclaim of many for their performances, but the South American nation of Paraguay can also consider themselves one of the tournament's big surprises.

Despite being a deeply passionate and historic country when it comes to football, Paraguay were not a nation many expected to do too much at the 2026 World Cup. Especially as they were drawn into a group with Türkiye, a side full of talent many expected to go far and joint hosts USA.

However despite that, Paraguay, against the odds, found a way through to the knockout stages after claiming four points from their three games, including a shock win over Türkiye in gameweek two which was enough for Paraguay to qualify as one of the best third placed teams to make it through to the round of 32.

There, they met Germany. Who whilst not being the all-conquering side they had been multple times in the past, were fully expected to have too much for the South American outfit and send them home.

What a moment for Paraguay as they clinch a Round of 16 spot by knocking out Germany 🇵🇾 pic.twitter.com/4meAkqHxqI

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 29, 2026

However, a miracle happened. Julio Enciso opened the scoring for Paraguay late on in the first half and whilst Premier League winner Kai Havertz managed to level the game for Germany in the second half, they couldn't find a winner in the remainder of the contest and throughout extra-time, making penalties decide who would progress.

Despite Germany's previous successes in shootout's in major tournaments, they didn't find success this time as Paraguay held their nerve more from twelve yards, as Havertz, Jonathan Tah and Nick Woltemade all failed to score to send Germany home and keep Paraguay's fairytale tournament going with a round of 16 tie versus France, the side many have tipped to end up victorious in North America.

Due to the difference in quality, and odds of victory for both teams, the majority of neutrals could have been considered on the side of Paraguay ahead of the contest, as they looked to see perhaps the strongest side of the tournament knocked out by the Paraguayans.

However, by the time the final whistle in the scorching heat of Philadelphia was blown following France's eventual 0-1 win, the public perception of Paraguay's side could hardly be any different.

Les Bleus found a way through to the Quarter-final stage by beating Paraguay thanks to a second half Kylian Mbappe penalty, but that was strongly overshadowed by the antics of the Paraguay team throughout the match.

The match was contested in a way which was clear Paraguay were keen to master the dark arts in order to sop France by any means necessary. A method that can easily be forgiven, given the obvious gap in quality between the two nations, but it was the way that Paraguay went about their performance with left a sour taste in the mouthes of many watching on around the world.

Paraguay's team took part in antics across the match that went beyond simply trying to hold out and keep the score level. Several moments occured where Paraguay's players appeared to attempt to con the referee into either awarding a foul through simulation or getting an opposition player into the referee's book via a yellow card.

How did he get away with this? 😳

This Paraguay player threw punches at both Mbappé and Koundé and avoided any card. pic.twitter.com/nMREPNxvYJ

— No Context World Cup (@NoContextEPL) July 5, 2026

But that was not all, as Paraguay's players could also be seen on multiple occasions crossing the line of tackles with several strong challenges, and even potential cases of borderline assault, as was seen late on in the game as Paraguay player Matías Galarzaa ppeared to swipe a punch on France defender Jules Kounde off the ball as Paraguay looked to launch a counter-attack.

Rather incredibly, the incident was not reviewed by VAR, one that looked certain to land under the case of 'violent conduct'. But what was even more incredible was that despite how the game played out, Paraguay finished the match without a single player receiving a yellow card. With France having three of their own.

The actions of the Paraguay players in the match drew anger from the French players and staff, with several small braws breaking out throughout the contest. And when the final whistle blew to confirm their victory, Mbappe ignored the outstretched hand of congratulations of Paraguay's goalkeeper Orlando Gill, instead running over to celebrate with the France supporters without embracing any of the opposition players, an act which was shared by the majority of his teammates.

Tempers boiled over after the full-time whistle at the end of a tense game between France and Paraguay 😬 pic.twitter.com/4y9IxYzGEn

— ITV Football (@itvfootball) July 4, 2026

France's thoughts on how their opponents carried themselves was a view shared by most. With Paraguay's performance strongly condemned by many fans, and even pundits. Making it clear that despite their quota as underdogs of the match against France and their performance at the World Cup as a whole, the public opinion of them had shifted to a negative one. With the charm of the undergod broken due to the actions of much of their players in Philadelphia, something that is rare in football occured. As the majority of neutral viewers seemed satisfied that Goliath defeated David.