Enciso hails Paraguay's grit after Turkey win in World Cup return

Julio Enciso’s reaction to Paraguay’s win over Turkey captured the mood inside a team that had waited 16 years to get back to the World Cup. The 21-year-old forward pointed to Paraguay’s strength in a match played with one man down, a result that offered a sterner test of character than a polished display could have done.

Paraguay’s victory came on June 20, 2026, at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium, in a Group D that also includes the United States and Australia. The setting mattered because this was not just another group match: it was part of Paraguay’s return to the tournament after missing South Africa 2010, then sitting out Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.

FIFA had already framed Enciso as one of the faces of Paraguay’s new generation, and the performance against Turkey fit that billing. He marked his second assist of the World Cup and again looked central to how Gustavo Alfaro wants Paraguay to attack, even as the team had to absorb pressure and organize itself around the setback of playing with fewer men.

Alfaro named his 26-man squad on June 1, 2026, and Paraguay arrived with the weight of history behind it. FIFA described the run to this World Cup as the end of a long drought and noted that 2026 is Paraguay’s ninth appearance at the finals. In a tournament built around 104 matches and 48 teams, Paraguay’s path was always going to be judged not only by results, but by whether it could withstand the kind of chaos that often decides group-stage survival.

That is why this win carries outsized value. Paraguay did not need a perfect performance to send a message; it needed proof that it could suffer, adapt and still prevail. For a side returning after 16 years, that kind of resistance may tell more about its tournament ceiling than any prettier win ever could.