Paraguay’s Matias Galarza scored the fastest goal in any World Cup match this year barely more than a minute in, leading Paraguay to a 1-0 win over Turkiye on Friday night in Santa Clara, Calif.
The South American team overcame the loss of veteran Miguel Almiron to a red card just before halftime.
Paraguay (1-1-0, 3 points) kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages, after the US defeated Australia 2-0 earlier Friday in Group D. The US (2-0-0, 6 points) clinched first place in the group thanks to the Paraguay-Turkiye result.
Australia (1-1-0, 3 points) will face Paraguay on Thursday in Santa Clara, with the Aussies needing only a draw to clinch second place. Turkiye (0-2-0, 0 points) were eliminated ahead of their group finale against the US on Thursday in Inglewood, Calif.
Galarza delivered his decisive strike from 25 yards out as three defenders converged on him.
Turkiye had shots hit the crossbar and the goalpost, rattling the woodwork but not going in.
Turkiye pressed for a tying goal early in the second half but came up short, though they played with a man advantage for the last 45-plus minutes.
Almiron was shown a red card for covering his mouth when talking to an opposing player, a gesture banned under a new Fifa rule.
Can Uzun shot just wide in the 82nd minute, one of several attempts for Turkiye as they desperately tried to salvage a point to stay alive for possible advancement.
An 85th-minute cross filtered through the box in front of the goal, another late missed Turkiye chance. Three more attempts in the closing minutes didn’t hit the target, and Turkiye players crumpled to the ground at the final whistle in disbelief over their elimination from advancement in the World Cup.
Turkiye had five shots on target and 32 shots overall, while Paraguay had just two and seven, respectively. Turkiye also had 12 corner kicks to zero for Paraguay, but Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill made five saves for the clean-sheet win.
