Paraguay at the Copa América

Midfielder Manuel Fleitas Solich appeared in five South American Championships in the 1920s as a player and led Paraguay to their first title in 1953 as coach.

The Copa América is South America's major tournament in senior men's football and determines the continental champion. Until 1967, the tournament was known as South American Championship. It is the oldest continental championship in the world.

Paraguay can historically be considered South America's 'Best of the Rest' as they are ranked fourth in the Copa Américas All-Time table behind CONMEBOL's big three: Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil.

However, Paraguay's most successful era continentally was in the late 1940s culminating in their first tournament victory in 1953 while in recent decades Paraguay produced mediocre results. Even the 'Golden Generation', which continually qualified and produced good results at the FIFA World Cups from 1998–2010, never advanced beyond the quarter-finals at a Copa América until reaching the final once in 2011.

Overall record

Defender Heriberto Herrera played an integral part of the 1953 tournament winning squad. He is the only Paraguayan to be honoured as player of the tournament.

Players of Olimpia celebrating the victory of the 1979 Copa Libertadores. It was the first time the tournament was won by a Paraguayan club and a large block of players was part of the national squad that won the Copa América the same year. Integral players were Carlos Kiese, Flaminio Sosa and Roberto Paredes, among others.

South American Championship / Copa América record
Year	Round	Position	Pld	W	D*	L	GF	GA	Squad
1916	Not a CONMEBOL member
1917
1919
1920
1921	Fourth place	4th	3	1	0	2	2	7	Squad
1922	Runners-up	2nd	4	2	1	1	5	3	Squad
1923	Third place	3rd	3	1	0	2	4	6	Squad
1924	Third place	3rd	3	1	1	1	4	4	Squad
1925	Third place	3rd	4	0	0	4	4	13	Squad
1926	Fourth place	4th	4	1	0	3	8	20	Squad
1927	Did not enter
1929	Runners-up	2nd	3	2	0	1	9	4	Squad
1935	Did not enter
1937	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	8	16	Squad
1939	Third place	3rd	4	2	0	2	9	8	Squad
1941	Did not enter
1942	Fourth place	4th	6	2	2	2	11	10	Squad
1945	Did not enter
1946	Third place	3rd	5	2	1	2	8	8	Squad
1947	Runners-up	2nd	7	5	1	1	16	11	Squad
1949	Runners-up	2nd	8	6	0	2	21	13	Squad
1953	Champions	1st	7	4	2	1	14	8	Squad
1955	Fifth place	5th	5	1	1	3	7	14	Squad
1956	Fifth place	5th	5	0	2	3	3	8	Squad
1957	Did not enter
1959	Third place	3rd	6	3	0	3	12	12	Squad
1959	Fifth place	5th	4	0	1	3	6	11	Squad
1963	Runners-up	2nd	6	4	1	1	13	7	Squad
1967	Fourth place	4th	5	2	0	3	9	13	Squad
1975	Group stage	7th	4	1	1	2	5	5	Squad
1979	Champions	1st	6	3	3	0	9	3	Squad
1983	Third place	3rd	2	0	2	0	1	1	Squad
1987	Group stage	9th	2	0	1	1	0	3	Squad
1989	Fourth place	4th	7	3	1	3	9	10	Squad
1991	Group stage	6th	4	2	0	2	7	8	Squad
1993	Quarter-finals	8th	4	1	1	2	2	7	Squad
1995	Quarter-finals	6th	4	2	1	1	6	5	Squad
1997	Quarter-finals	7th	4	1	1	2	2	5	Squad
1999	Quarter-finals	6th	4	2	2	0	6	1	Squad
2001	Group stage	10th	3	0	2	1	4	6	Squad
2004	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	1	1	5	5	Squad
2007	Quarter-finals	5th	4	2	0	2	8	8	Squad
2011	Runners-up	2nd	6	0	5	1	5	8	Squad
2015	Fourth place	4th	6	1	3	2	6	12	Squad
2016	Group stage	12th	3	0	1	2	1	3	Squad
2019	Quarter-finals	8th	4	0	3	1	3	4	Squad
2021	Quarter-finals	6th	5	2	1	2	8	6	Squad
2024	Group stage	14th	3	0	0	3	3	8	Squad
Total	2 Titles	39/48	180	64	43	73	267	311	—

* Includes a 2–2 draw awarded to Peru.

Winning tournaments

1953 South American Championship

After coach Manuel Fleitas Solich took charge of the Paraguay national team in 1947, he developed an already skillful team into title contestants. In 1947 and 1949, Los Guaraníes were consecutive vice-champions.

In 1949 and 1953 Paraguay was in the same situation before their last match of the group phase: Anything less than a win against Brazil would mean tournament victory for the opponent, while a win would force both teams into a play-off. Both times Paraguay won 2–1.

In the 1949 play-off, Brazil thrashed Paraguay 7–0 on home soil, taking revenge for the group match defeat along with tournament victory. In 1953 however, the Paraguayan's scored two early goals in the play-off, and led 3–0 by half-time, winning the match 3–2.

1 April 1953

Paraguay	3–2	Brazil
López 14' Gavilán 17' Fernández 41'		Baltazar 56', 65'

Estadio Nacional, Lima

Attendance: 35,000

Referee: Charles Dean

1979 Copa América

1979 was the second edition of a revised Copa América which was not held as a local tournament, but spread over several months in a number of home-and-away-matches. In the group phase, opponent Uruguay slipped up in their first match against Ecuador, losing 1–2, and were held at bay by Paraguay with two draws. A closely contested semi-final saw Paraguay win 4–3 on aggregate over Brazil.

The rules for the final against Chile were that a play-off on neutral ground was to be played if the teams were equal on points after two legs. Goal difference would only come into play if the play-off also ended in a draw. After a 3–0 home win, but a 1–0 away defeat, the play-off was scheduled in Buenos Aires six days later. Drawing 0–0, Paraguay won on aggregate goals after that play-off. In total, Paraguay had to play nine matches to be crowned champions, a tournament record tied with Peru, who went through a similar ordeal four years earlier.

11 December 1979

Paraguay	0–0	Chile

José Amalfitani, Buenos Aires

Attendance: 6,000

Referee: Arnaldo C. Coelho

Record by opponent

Paraguay's highest victory at a Copa América was a 7–0 win against Bolivia in 1949. Their highest defeat was a 0–8 loss against Argentina in 1926.

Copa América matches (by team)
Opponent	W	D	L	Pld	GF	GA
Argentina	0	6	20	26	23	78
Bolivia	8	2	1	11	31	8
Brazil	7	11	14	32	31	65
Chile	13	2	7	22	38	31
Colombia	5	1	6	12	17	13
Costa Rica	1	1	1	3	2	2
Ecuador	9	3	3	15	26	15
Jamaica	1	0	0	1	1	0
Japan	1	0	0	1	4	0
Mexico	1	1	1	3	2	7
Peru	7	7	4	18	35	25
Qatar	0	1	0	1	2	2
United States	1	0	1	2	3	2
Uruguay	6	6	15	27	33	55
Venezuela	4	2	0	6	16	8
Total	64	43	73	180	267	311

Record players

Rank	Player	Matches	Tournaments
1	Manuel Gavilán	20	1947, 1949 and 1953
	Salvador Villalba	20	1955, 1956, 1959 (ARG) and 1959 (ECU)
3	Sinforiano García	19	1946, 1947 and 1949
	Juan Torales	19	1979, 1983, 1987 and 1989
	Carlos Gamarra	19	1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2004
6	Gerardo Rivas	18	1921, 1922, 1923, 1924 and 1925
	Manuel Fleitas Solich	18	1921, 1922, 1924, 1925 and 1926
	Roberto Fernández	18	1979, 1983, 1987 and 1989
	Roque Santa Cruz	18	1999, 2007, 2011 and 2015
	Paulo da Silva	18	2007, 2011, 2015 and 2016

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Goals	Tournaments (goals)
1	Juan Bautista Villalba	9	1946 (4) and 1947 (5)
2	Marcial Barrios	8	1939 (3), 1942 (3) and 1949 (2)
3	Gerardo Rivas	7	1921 (1), 1922 (2), 1923 (1), 1924 (1) and 1925 (2)
	Aurelio González	7	1929 (5) and 1937 (2)
	Dionisio Arce	7	1949
	Jorge Duílio Benítez	7	1949
	Maximo Rolón	7	1955 (5) and 1956 (2)
	Roque Santa Cruz	7	1999 (3), 2007 (3) and 2011 (1)
9	Ildefonso López	6	1921 (1), 1922 (1), 1923 (1), 1924 (2) and 1926 (1)
	Leocadio Marín	6	1947
	José Aveiro	6	1959 (ARG)

Awards and records

Team Awards

• Champions 2x (1953, 1979)
• Second Place 6x (1922, 1929, 1947, 1949, 1963, 2011)
• Third Place 7x (1923, 1924, 1925, 1939, 1959 (ARG), 1983)

Individual Awards

• Most Valuable Player 1953: Heriberto Herrera
• Top Scorer 1929: Aurelio González (5 goals)
• Top Scorer 1979: Eugenio Morel (4 goals) (shared)
• Best Goalkeeper 2011: Justo Villar

See also

• Paraguay at the FIFA World Cup

External links

• RSSSF archives and results
• Soccerway database