Ten-man Paraguay eliminated Turkiye from the FIFA World Cup and kept their hopes of advancing to the knockout stages from Group D alive.
Turkiye’s defeat means they become the second team after Haiti to be eliminated from contention.
Matias Galarza scored the only goal in a game that featured the first sending off in FIFA World Cup history for a player covering their mouth during an on-field confrontation, for Miguel Almiron.
Galarza’s low, long-range shot evaded Turkiye goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir after just 63 seconds.
Former Newcastle forward Almiron was given his marching orders in first-half stoppage time after covering his mouth while he appeared to direct a comment at Turkiye’s Mert Muldur.
In a scrappy match, Deniz Gul had a golden chance to equalize in the 88th minute when Paraguay ‘keeper Orlando Gill could only parry a shot, but he stabbed his shot wide of the goal.
Merih Demiral glanced a header wide in the dying seconds and was almost in tears afterwards as the Turkiye players slumped to the turf in bitter disappointment.
