Turkey and Paraguay meet on Friday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara with both teams on zero points and little margin left after opening World Cup defeats. For Turkey, the game arrives after a 2–0 loss to Australia on Sunday; for Paraguay, it follows a 4–1 defeat to the USMNT.
That is why the search for Turkey is so sharp today. Turkey came into the 2026 World Cup as the favorite to win Group D, then found itself chasing the game against Australia, taking 30 shots and still leaving empty-handed. Paraguay, which waited 16 years to get back to the World Cup, absorbed a result that Gustavo Alfaro called a “very painful lesson,” and both sides now need a response fast.
Turkey’s opener also showed how thin the margin can be in a short group stage. The team had scored in its previous eight matches before the loss, but possession and volume did not turn into goals. That matters because in a group that also includes the U.S. men's national team and Australia, two straight defeats can leave a team needing help as much as points.
Kenan Yıldız is part of the reason Turkey’s next move is being watched so closely. He was not in the starting lineup against Australia because of a calf strain and only came off the bench, which leaves one of Turkey’s most important attacking questions unresolved heading into Friday. If he is fit enough to start, Turkey gets a different kind of threat. If he remains a substitute, the side will have to find goals another way.
The match in Santa Clara is therefore more than a reset. Turkey arrived back at the World Cup after 24 years away and Paraguay returned after 16, but neither side can afford to treat Friday like a normal group game. Another loss would make an early exit extremely likely, which is why every chance, every selection and every minute at Levi’s Stadium carries the weight of a tournament already moving quickly.
