Julio Enciso Becomes 1st Player To Score A Goal For Paraguay In FIFA World Cup Knockout Match

22-year-old Julio Enciso entered his name in the history books on Monday (Tuesday IST) by becoming the first player to score a goal for Paraguay in a FIFA World Cup knockout match. The attacking midfielder/left winger scored the historic goal in the 42nd minute of Paraguay’s Round of 32 match against Germany at Boston Stadium on Monday.

Paraguay made their FIFA World Cup debut in 1930 and played their first-ever knockout match against England at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico City. However, it took them 40 years to register their first goal in a FIFA World Cup knockout match.

Julio Enciso has been involved in EVERY goal Paraguay have scored at the 2026 World Cup.

🅰️ vs. USA
🅰️ vs. Türkiye
⚽️ vs. Germany

The main man. 💫 pic.twitter.com/HHrTORWVv0

— Squawka (@Squawka) June 29, 2026

The ongoing match against Germany is Paraguay’s sixth knockout match in FIFA World Cup history. They had won only one FIFA World Cup knockout match before this, defeating Japan in the Round of 16 at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, that victory came via a penalty shootout after the match ended goalless following extra time.

Paraguay’s results in FIFA World Cup matches

EDITION	ROUND	AGAINST	SCORE	RESULT	VENUE	SCORERS FOR PARAGUAY
1930	Group 4	United States	0–3	Loss	Montevideo	—
		Belgium	1–0	Win	Montevideo	Luis Vargas Peña
1950	Group 3	Sweden	2–2	Draw	Curitiba	Atilio López, César López Fretes
		Italy	0–2	Loss	São Paulo	—
1958	Group 2	France	3–7	Loss	Norrköping	Florencio Amarilla (2), Jorge Romero
		Scotland	3–2	Win	Norrköping	Juan Bautista Agüero, Cayetano Ré, José Parodi
		Yugoslavia	3–3	Draw	Eskilstuna	José Parodi, Juan Bautista Agüero, Jorge Romero
1986	Group B	Iraq	1–0	Win	Toluca	Romerito
		Mexico	1–1	Draw	Mexico City	Romerito
		Belgium	2–2	Draw	Toluca	Roberto Cabañas (2)
	Round of 16	England	0–3	Loss	Mexico City	—
1998	Group D	Bulgaria	0–0	Draw	Montpellier	—
		Spain	0–0	Draw	Saint-Étienne	—
		Nigeria	3–1	Win	Toulouse	Celso Ayala, Miguel Ángel Benítez, José Saturnino Cardozo
	Round of 16	France	0–1 (a.e.t.)	Loss	Lens	—
2002	Group B	South Africa	2–2	Draw	Busan	Roque Santa Cruz, Francisco Arce
		Spain	1–3	Loss	Jeonju
		Slovenia	3–1	Win	Seogwipo	Nelson Cuevas (2), Jorge Campos
	Round of 16	Germany	0–1	Loss	Seogwipo	—
2006	Group B	England	0–1	Loss	Frankfurt	—
		Sweden	0–1	Loss	Berlin	—
		Trinidad and Tobago	2–0	Win	Kaiserslautern	Nelson Cuevas
2010	Group F	Italy	1–1	Draw	Cape Town	Antolín Alcaraz
		Slovakia	2–0	Win	Bloemfontein	Enrique Vera, Cristian Riveros
		New Zealand	0–0	Draw	Polokwane	—
	Round of 16	Japan	0–0 (a.e.t.) (5–3 pen.)	Draw	Pretoria	—
	Quarter-finals	Spain	0–1	Loss	Johannesburg	—
2026	Group D	United States	1–4	Loss	Inglewood	Maurício
		Turkey	1–0	Win	Santa Clara	Matías Galarza
		Australia	0–0	Draw	Santa Clara	—
	Round of 32	Germany	1-0 (Halfine)	Ongoing*	Foxborough	Julio Enciso

Before opening his goalscoring account at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Monday, Julio Enciso had already registered an assist in each of Paraguay’s first two matches of the tournament.

Neuer breaks record of…

Neuer is Germany’s first-choice goalkeeper at the ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup, and by featuring in the starting XI for Germany’s Round of 32 match against Paraguay at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, he broke the record for the most FIFA World Cup starts for the European giants. The match against Paraguay is Neuer’s 23rd FIFA World Cup appearance for Germany, and he has started in all 23 matches.

The previous record for the most FIFA World Cup starts for Germany was held by Lothar Matthäus, who started 22 of his 25 World Cup matches across five editions (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1998). Miroslav Klose equalled Matthäus’ tally of 22 starts during the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, but Neuer has now surpassed both legends.