Gustavo Alfaro announced Paraguay’s starting eleven for the friendly against Nicaragua at the Defensores del Chaco, handing the goalkeeper spot to Roberto Jr. Fernández as the team staged a home farewell before leaving for the 2026 World Cup.
That is why searches for paraguay vs nicaragua have spiked: this match is the final look at Alfaro’s squad in front of local fans, and the lineup he chose offers the clearest preview yet of the group he will take to the United States.
The eleven Alfaro sent out was Roberto 'Gatito' Fernández in goal, backed by Juan José Cáceres, Gustavo Gómez, Omar Alderete and Junior Alonso across the back; Andrés Cubas, Alejandro Romero Gamarra and Diego Gómez in midfield; and Miguel Almirón, Julio Enciso and Antonio Sanabria up front. Damián Bobadilla did not make the lineup — the coach left him out to protect his recovery from a physical discomfort that has also kept him out of recent São Paulo matches.
Paraguay had trained in Ypané in the days before the friendly and traveled to the Defensores del Chaco on match day for what the federation billed as a send-off for home supporters. For players like Alejandro Romero Gamarra, starting this fixture is a chance to lock in rhythm; for Bobadilla, the decision to rest was explicitly medical and part of managing his availability for the tournament.
Alfaro was careful to temper any reading of the goalkeeper call. He made clear that Fernández’s start on home soil is a selection for this match and does not automatically translate into the starting role in Paraguay’s World Cup opener on June 12 in the United States. That line — that Sunday’s choice is situational, not definitive — is the coach’s way of keeping competition open while trying to balance preparation and player fitness in the final days before departure.
The friendly serves two immediate purposes: it is a farewell to supporters at Defensores del Chaco and a live rehearsal for eleven players who will carry the team’s first tactical ideas into the World Cup. The starting XI gives Alfaro a working template for set pieces, defensive shape and how he might pair Miguel Almirón and Julio Enciso to push transitions — but it simultaneously leaves several selection questions unresolved, most visibly in goal and around a recovering Bobadilla.
After the match Paraguay was set to travel to the United States to complete final World Cup preparations and then open the tournament on June 12. The single, consequential unanswered question now is straightforward: will Alfaro carry the faith he showed Fernández in this farewell through to the World Cup’s first whistle, or will match-day decisions and fitness concerns force a different choice in goal for the opener? That decision will define the immediate narrative around Alfaro’s roster management and shape how supporters remember the last time the squad played at home.
