Paraguay needed just two minutes to find the back of the net against Turkey, and then spent the remaining 88-plus minutes proving that sometimes the hardest part of winning isn’t scoring. It’s surviving.
Matías Galarza opened the scoring in the 2nd minute at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, converting an assist from J. Enciso to give Paraguay a 1-0 lead that would prove to be the only goal of the match. The June 19 Group D contest took a dramatic turn when Miguel Almirón was shown a red card in first-half stoppage time (45+3′), forcing Paraguay to grind through the entire second half with just ten players.
For Turkey, the result was fatal. The loss marked their second defeat in the group stage, which was enough to mathematically eliminate them from the tournament.
Crypto prediction markets find their sporting moment
While the action on the pitch was compelling, a parallel storyline was unfolding on blockchain-based prediction platforms. Approximately $1.85 million was wagered on Polymarket regarding this match’s outcome.
