33·Legends

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Paraguay

The thirty-three greatest. Build your eleven, then settle the duels.

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The 33 of Paraguay

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91 Arsenio Erico 56 caps · 26 goals · Club Nacional, Club Atlético IndependienteIndependiente's crowd called him the Saltarín Rojo for the way he rose above defenders, and in 1937 he scored 47 league goals in a single Argentine season, a figure nobody has matched since. Argentina's top scorer in 1937, 1938 and 1939, he won the league with Independiente in 1938 and 1939 and the Paraguayan title with Nacional in 1942, scoring close to 300 goals in Argentina, and Alfredo Di Stéfano rated him among the greatest he ever saw. ST1937–42

90 José Luis Chilavert 74 caps · San Lorenzo de Almagro, Real ZaragozaIn 1999 he stepped up three times for Vélez Sarsfield against Ferro Carril Oeste and converted all three penalties, the first goalkeeper in professional football to score a hat-trick. He won the 1994 Copa Libertadores and the Intercontinental Cup with Vélez, four Argentine championships, three IFFHS world goalkeeper awards in 1995, 1997 and 1998, a place in the 1998 World Cup team of the tournament, and finished on 67 career goals, second only to Rogério Ceni among keepers. GK1994–99

3 CG 89 Carlos Gamarra 110 caps · Cerro Porteño, S.C. InternacionalAt France 98 Paraguay played four matches, conceded two goals, and went out only when Laurent Blanc's golden goal beat them in the 114th minute; FIFA named Gamarra in its team of the tournament. He won 110 caps, captained the side to Olympic silver in Athens in 2004, took the Brazilian championship with Corinthians in 1998 and was Paraguayan Footballer of the Year in 1997 and 1998. CB1997–2004

88 José Saturnino Cardozo 82 caps · 25 goals · Club Deportivo Universidad Católica, Club OlimpiaToluca have never had another like him: 249 goals in 332 games, a club record nobody has come near. He won four Mexican championships there, in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2002, took four league Golden Boots between 1998 and 2003, lifted the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2003, and scored 25 goals in 82 appearances for Paraguay. CAM1998–2003

5 JC 88 Julio César Romero Two goals in the group stage of the 1986 World Cup, against Iraq on 4 June and the hosts at the Azteca three days later, carried Paraguay into the second round. He was South American Footballer of the Year in 1985, won the Copa América in 1979 with three goals in the tournament, took the Brazilian title with Fluminense in 1984, and scored the winner in the Cosmos' Soccer Bowl victory in 1980. CM1979–86

6 EH 87 Ever Hugo Almeida 22 caps · C.A. Cerro, Club GuaraníOlimpia's goalkeeper scored a Copa Libertadores penalty against Estudiantes de La Plata on 27 April 1984, the only goal of his 113 matches in the competition between 1973 and 1990. Those years brought the Copa Libertadores in 1979 and 1990, the Intercontinental Cup of 1979, the Copa Interamericana that same season, ten Paraguayan championships, and a Libertadores appearance record that still stands. GK1969–1991

87 Roque Santa Cruz 112 caps · 32 goals · FC Bayern Munich, Blackburn RoversBlackburn signed him in 2007 and he gave them 19 goals in 37 league games, fourth in the Premier League that season behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres and Emmanuel Adebayor. Before that he had won the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup with Bayern in 2001, with Bundesliga titles from 2000 to 2006, and he finished as a Copa América runner-up in 2011 holding Paraguay's records for caps (112) and goals (32). SS2000–11

8 SC 87 Salvador Cabañas 44 caps · 10 goals · Audax Italiano, ChiapasTop scorer of the Copa Libertadores in two consecutive years for Club América, ten goals in 2007 and eight in 2008, he scored 66 times in 115 games for the club. He shared the Mexican league Golden Boot in the Clausura 2006, scored three goals at the 2007 Copa América and six in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, which he missed after being shot in the head in a Mexico City bar on 25 January 2010. SS2006–10

9 AG 86 Aurelio González El Gran Capitán was the name that stuck, and at the 1929 South American Championship he finished as top scorer while his side came second to Argentina; when San Lorenzo came with money in the early 1930s he turned it down to fight in the Chaco War. He won three Paraguayan titles with Olimpia between 1927 and 1929, played at the 1930 World Cup, scored 11 goals in 15 internationals, and later coached Paraguay to the 1958 World Cup. ST1927–58

10 CA 86 Celso Ayala 85 caps · Club Atlético River Plate, Real Betis BalompiéInside a minute in Toulouse on 24 June 1998, the centre-half put Paraguay ahead against Nigeria, and that 3-1 win carried them into the second round. He won the Copa Libertadores with River Plate in 1996 and six Argentine league titles across two spells there, and he played 85 times for Paraguay at four Copa América tournaments and the 1998 World Cup. CB1996–98

11 FA 86 Francisco Arce 61 caps · Grêmio FBPA, Sociedade Esportiva PalmeirasParaguay's right-back took their free kicks, and in Busan on 2 June 2002 he scored from one in the 55th minute against South Africa, one of five goals in 61 internationals. He won the Copa Libertadores with Grêmio in 1995 and Palmeiras in 1999, the Brazilian championship with Grêmio in 1996 and the Copa do Brasil with Palmeiras in 1998, and was picked in the South American Team of the Year eight years running from 1995. RB1995–2002

86 Óscar Cardozo 58 caps · 12 goals · Club Nacional, S.L. BenficaYuichi Komano had just struck the bar in Pretoria on 29 June 2010 when Cardozo placed Paraguay's fifth penalty past Kawashima, and his country reached a World Cup quarter-final for the first time. He won two Portuguese league titles with Benfica and left with 172 goals, was Europa League top scorer in 2009-10, took the Primeira Liga scoring crown twice, added a Taça de Portugal and five Taça da Liga titles, and stands as Libertad's all-time leading scorer. ST2009–10

13 EM 84 Eugenio Morel 14 caps · 6 goals · Racing Club, Club Atlético Talleres de Remedios de EscaladaAn overhead kick against Brazil in 1979 carried his name across the continent, and the left-footed winger opened the scoring in Asunción on 24 October as Paraguay beat the Brazilians 2-1 on the way to the final. Paraguay took the Copa América that year, their second, and Morel shared the tournament's scoring lead with four goals, adding a Paraguayan championship with Libertad in 1976. CM1970s–1980s

14 RF 84 Roberto Fernández Paraguayans still bring up 7 June 1986 at the Azteca, when Hugo Sánchez stepped up against the goalkeeper everyone called Gato and put his penalty against the post in a 1-1 draw. He was in the Paraguay squad that won the Copa América in 1979, kept goal at the 1986 World Cup, won 78 caps, took Paraguayan titles with Cerro Porteño in 1990 and 1996, and the Copa do Brasil with Internacional in 1992. GK1979–96

15 JC 83 Julio César Cáceres Club Olimpia, Clube Atlético MineiroOlimpia went to the Pacaembu a goal down in the 2002 Libertadores final and won it on 31 July, 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on penalties, with Cáceres at 22 in the middle of the defence. He added the 2003 Recopa Sudamericana, a second Recopa and the Apertura with Boca Juniors in 2008, Paraguayan titles in 1999 and 2000, and 61 caps across three World Cups, reaching the quarter-finals in 2010 with two goals conceded in five matches. CB1999–2010

83 Justo Villar Club Sol de América, Club LibertadSpain won a penalty in Johannesburg on 3 July 2010, and when the referee ordered it retaken Villar pushed Xabi Alonso's second attempt away to keep Paraguay level in the only World Cup quarter-final they have reached. He took the Golden Glove at the 2011 Copa América with three clean sheets as Paraguay reached the final, won 120 caps across three World Cups, and lifted league titles with Libertad, Newell's Old Boys and Colo-Colo. GK2010–11

17 Pd 83 Paulo da Silva Atlántida Sport Club, TolucaSpain needed 83 minutes to break the line he anchored in Johannesburg on 3 July 2010, and even then David Villa's shot went in off the post. El Albañil, the bricklayer, played more internationals than any other Paraguayan across 148 caps, going to two World Cups and four Copas América, runner-up in 2011, and winning Mexican titles with Toluca in 2005 and 2008, Paraguayan titles with Libertad in 2002 and 2003, and the 2003 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. CB2002–11

82 Claudio Morel Rodríguez San Lorenzo de Almagro, Deportivo de A CoruñaParaguay played 480 minutes at the 2010 World Cup, right through extra time against Japan to the quarter-final loss to Spain, and Morel was on the pitch for every one of them. He won the Copa Sudamericana three times, a record for a player, with San Lorenzo in 2002 and Boca in 2004 and 2005, and he added the 2007 Copa Libertadores, three Recopas, four Argentine league titles and the 2008 Paraguayan Footballer of the Year award. LB2002–10

82 Cristian Riveros 88 caps · Tacuary Football Club, Club LibertadIn Bloemfontein on 20 June 2010 he scored in the 2-0 win over Slovakia that set Paraguay up to top a group containing the holders, Italy, and a year later he converted his penalty in both Copa América shootouts, against Brazil and Venezuela. Riveros won 101 caps for Paraguay and scored 16 goals, reached the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals and the 2011 Copa América final, and took league titles with Libertad in 2006 and 2007. CDM2006–11

20 DC 82 Denis Caniza 100 caps · Club Olimpia, Club Atlético LanúsOnly one Paraguayan has been named in four World Cup squads, and he did it across twelve years, from France in 1998 to South Africa in 2010, arriving at the last of them aged 35. A hundred caps came with them, plus four Paraguayan championships with Olimpia between 1995 and 1999, a fifth with Nacional in the 2009 Clausura, and the 2001 Verano title with Santos Laguna in Mexico, where he played 191 matches. RB1995–2010

21 ÉB 82 Édgar Barreto 60 caps · N.E.C., AS Reggina 1914Four Italian clubs kept him in Serie A for thirteen straight seasons, Reggina and Atalanta and Palermo and Sampdoria from 2007 to 2020, more than 260 appearances built on being picked every week. Between 2004 and 2011 he won 60 caps, scored in the shootout against Japan that carried Paraguay to their first World Cup quarter-final, and came home with Olympic silver from Athens and a Copa América runners-up medal. CDM2004–20

82 Nelson Haedo Valdez 77 caps · 13 goals · SV Werder Bremen, Borussia DortmundWerder Bremen sent him on in the 87th minute of the DFB-Pokal final on 29 May 2004, a twenty-year-old Paraguayan closing out a 3-2 win that completed Bremen's league and cup double. Valdez won the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal in 2003-04, the MLS Cup with Seattle Sounders in 2016, reached the 2010 World Cup quarter-finals, where he scored Paraguay's fourth penalty in the shootout against Japan, and finished runner-up at the 2011 Copa América with 13 goals in 77 caps. ST2003–16

82 Roberto Acuña 100 caps · Club Atlético Independiente, Real ZaragozaThe terraces knew him as El Toro, and he earned it in the middle of the field for three World Cups, playing every match Paraguay contested in 1998, 2002 and 2006. His hundred caps span 1993 to 2011 and take in four Copas América; at club level he won the 1995 Supercopa Sudamericana with Independiente, the 2000-01 Copa del Rey with Real Zaragoza after five seasons there, and was named Paraguayan Footballer of the Year in 2001. CB1993–2011

24 MÁ 81 Miguel Ángel Benítez In Toulouse on 24 June 1998 the man Paraguay knew as Peque scored just before the hour against Nigeria, and the 3-1 win carried his country into the last sixteen against France. Thirty caps brought eleven goals, and the trophies came late: the 2002 Copa Libertadores and the 2003 Recopa Sudamericana with Olimpia, after the 1999-2000 Copa del Rey and 28 goals in six seasons with Espanyol. CM1998–2003

81 Néstor Ortigoza 31 caps · 1 goals · San Lorenzo de Almagro, Emirates ClubHe stepped up first in the shootout against Venezuela on 20 July 2011 and scored, and Paraguay went through 5-3 to a Copa América final they reached without winning a single match. Three years later Ortigoza's penalty beat Nacional 1-0 at the Nuevo Gasómetro and won San Lorenzo their first Copa Libertadores, added to the 2013 Inicial, the 2015 Supercopa Argentina, the 2010 Clausura with Argentinos Juniors and the Argentine Footballer of the Year award that season. CM2010–15

26 VC 81 Víctor Cáceres Club Libertad, Clube de Regatas do FlamengoBrazil went out of the 2015 Copa América on penalties on 27 June, and he was among the Paraguayans who walked the length of the pitch and scored. Paraguay finished fourth in that tournament, four years after he had helped them to the 2011 final, and his 73 caps sit beside four Paraguayan titles with Libertad between 2006 and 2008, the 2013 Copa do Brasil and 2014 Carioca with Flamengo, and the 2017 Clausura with Cerro Porteño. CDM2006–17

27 AA 80 Antolín Alcaraz 23 caps · S.C. Beira-Mar, Club LibertadHis header in the 39th minute at Cape Town on 14 June 2010 put Paraguay in front of the defending champions Italy, who got out of the group opener with a 1-1 draw. Three years later he played the full ninety as Wigan beat Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley for the 2013 FA Cup, and he took a Copa América runners-up medal in 2011 with Paraguayan titles at Libertad in 2016 and 2017 and Olimpia in 2019. CB2010–19

28 CB 80 Carlos Bonet Club Libertad, Cruz AzulParaguay picked him for three World Cup squads across eight years, and in South Africa in 2010 he played three times as the country reached its first quarter-final. He retired in January 2019 with 743 professional matches behind him, four Paraguayan titles at Libertad in 2002, 2003, 2006 and the 2010 Clausura, two more at Cerro Porteño including an unbeaten Clausura 2013, and 80 caps. CM2002–19

29 DG 80 Derlis González Concepción, 27 June 2015: Thiago Silva handled in his own box, González levelled from the spot on 71 minutes, and when the quarter-final went to kicks he took Paraguay's fifth and put Brazil out 4-3. That run ended in fourth place, and 2015 also brought the Swiss title with Basel and the Paraguayan footballer of the year award; Dynamo Kyiv added the Ukrainian league and Super Cup, and he left the national team with nine goals in 50 caps. RM2010s

80 Osvaldo Martínez 32 caps · 1 goals · Club Libertad, Club de Fútbol MonterreyMonterrey signed him from Libertad in 2008 and he repaid them inside sixty seconds, scoring in the first minute of his first league match, a 4-0 win over Puebla. He won four Paraguayan championships with Libertad, five Liga MX titles across Monterrey, América and Santos Laguna, three CONCACAF Champions League crowns, and he was in the Paraguay side beaten by Uruguay in the 2011 Copa América final. LM2008–11

79 Aureliano Torres Deportivo Recoleta, Club GuaraníAthens, August 2004: he was in the Paraguay team that lost the Olympic final to Argentina and took silver, still the only Olympic medal Paraguay has won in any sport. That silver heads a list that runs through the 2011 Copa América final, lost 3-0 to Uruguay, the Argentine Clausura with San Lorenzo in 2007, the Uruguayan championship with Peñarol in 2012-13, and the Emperor's Cup with Kyoto Purple Sanga in 2002. LB2002–12

32 HB 79 Hugo Brizuela 15 caps · 3 goals · Club Deportivo Universidad Católica, CF PachucaThree times he signed for O'Higgins, 33 goals across those spells, and the last came at 36 in 2005 as Rancagua beat Deportes Melipilla to climb back into the Primera División. His 138 goals in 314 club games were spread across Chile, Argentina and Mexico; the Paraguayan championship came with Sol de América in 1991 and the Invierno title with Pachuca in 2001, and his 21 caps covered the 1997 Copa América and the 1998 World Cup. LM1991–2005

33 JE 79 Julio Enciso On 24 May 2023, aged nineteen, he struck from twenty-five yards against Manchester City at the Amex, a goal that sealed Brighton's first qualification for European football. He scored in Paraguay's round-of-32 win over Germany at the 2026 World Cup, settled 4-3 on penalties, and the City strike took the 2022-23 Premier League Goal of the Season award after he had won the 2021 Apertura with Libertad. CAM2021–26

About this XI

At the head of Paraguay's pool stand Arsenio Erico, José Luis Chilavert and Carlos Gamarra. The 33 covers 4 goalkeepers, 10 defenders, 13 midfielders and 6 forwards. Arsenio Erico leads the pool at 91 overall. Pick a formation, drag your eleven onto the pitch, then settle the duels below. Your votes reorder the people's ranking of these 33 in real time.

Left out, and why

A 33 is a set of decisions, and these are the players who lost their place in the last revision of Paraguay's list. Every one of them has a case.

Alejandro Romero GamarraRated 78 in the almanac. The place went to Eugenio Morel.
Juan IturbeRated 78 in the almanac. The place went to Ever Hugo Almeida.

Disagree? That is the point. Settle it in the duels above.

Who is the greatest Paraguay footballer of all time?

In the 33 Legends editorial ranking, Arsenio Erico leads Paraguay with an overall rating of 91. The editorial top five: Arsenio Erico, José Luis Chilavert, Carlos Gamarra, José Saturnino Cardozo, Julio César Romero. The people's ranking on this page moves with every duel vote and can disagree.

How were these 33 Paraguay players chosen?

The pool covers every position across Paraguay's football history. Ratings weigh peak level, longevity, honours and historical standing, then the full methodology page explains the tiers. Fan votes in the duels build a second, independent ranking.

Which Paraguay players reach the Immortal tier or higher?

None yet. Arsenio Erico leads the Paraguay pool at 91, in the Legend tier.

Can I build and share my own Paraguay all-time XI?

Yes. Pick one of eight formations, drag any of the 33 onto the pitch, and export your lineup as a PNG. There is no account and no sign-up.