Important Information

Kick-off is at 22:30 CEST at the Boston Stadium in Foxborough, MA (USA).

The Opponent

The Paraguay national football team (Spanish: Selección de fútbol de Paraguay; Guarani: Poravo Paraguáigua Vakapipopo pegua), nicknamed La Albirroja, represents Paraguay in men's international football competitions, and are controlled by the Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (English: Paraguayan Football Association). Paraguay is a member of CONMEBOL. The Albirroja has qualified for nine FIFA World Cup competitions (1930, 1950, 1958, 1986, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2026), with their best performance coming in 2010 when they reached the quarter-finals. A regular participant at the Copa América, Paraguay have been crowned champions of the competition on two occasions (in 1953 and 1979). Paraguay's highest FIFA World Ranking was 8th in March 2001 and their lowest was 103rd in May 1995. Paraguay was awarded second place with Best Move of the Year in 1996 for their rise in the FIFA World Ranking.

The national team's most successful period was under the coaching of Argentine Gerardo Martino, who was awarded with the South American Coach of the Year in 2007 and took Paraguay to the quarter-finals stage of the FIFA World Cup competition for the first time in history (in 2010) and also to the final of the 2011 Copa América, where Paraguay finished as runners-up. In Paraguay's entire history at the FIFA World Cup, only Carlos Gamarra and José Luis Chilavert hold the distinction of being selected as part of the All-Star Team, for their performances in the 1998 edition. Paulo da Silva holds the most appearances for the national team with 148 matches and Roque Santa Cruz is the all-time leading goalscorer with 32 goals. Denis Caniza, who was part of the national team from 1996 to 2010, is the only player to have represented Paraguay in four consecutive FIFA World Cup competitions (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010).

The Stadium

Gillette Stadium, currently known as Boston Stadium for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, is a multi-purpose stadium located in Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States. The stadium is 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Downtown Boston and 18 miles (29 km) northeast of Providence, Rhode Island. It serves as the home stadium and administrative offices for both the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) and the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (MLS). It opened in 2002, replacing the adjacent Foxboro Stadium. It also served as the home venue for the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Minutemen football team in 2012 and 2013 while on-campus Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium underwent renovations; it continued to serve as a part-time home venue for higher attendance UMass games through 2018. Gillette Stadium's seating capacity is 64,628, including 5,876 club seats and 82 luxury suites.

The town of Foxborough approved plans for the stadium's construction on December 6, 1999, and work on the stadium began on March 24, 2000. The first official event at the stadium was an MLS soccer game on May 11, 2002, where the New England Revolution defeated Dallas Burn, 2–0. Jeremiah Freed was the opening band at the WBCN River Rave on June 9, making them the first band to play at the stadium. Grand opening ceremonies were held on September 9, when the Patriots unveiled their Super Bowl XXXVI championship banner before a Monday Night Football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The stadium was originally known as CMGI Field before the naming rights were bought by Gillette after the "dot-com" bust. Although Gillette was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2005, the stadium retains the Gillette name. In September 2010, Gillette and the Patriots announced that their partnership, which includes naming rights to the stadium, would extend through the 2031 season. Additionally, uBid (a wholly owned subsidiary of CMGI until 2003) continued to sponsor one of the main entrance gates to the stadium.

Gillette Stadium is served by special MBTA Commuter Rail service from Boston and Providence during events, plus regular weekday service via the Franklin/Foxboro Line, at Foxboro station. The Patriots have sold out every home game since moving to the stadium—preseason, regular season, and playoffs. This streak dates back to the 1994 season at Foxboro Stadium; by September 2016, it had reached 231 games. The stadium is owned and operated by Kraft Sports Group, a subsidiary of the Kraft Group, the company through which businessman Robert Kraft owns the Patriots and Revolution.

The stadium is set to host several matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Due to FIFA rules regarding stadium sponsorships, Gillette will be known as Boston Stadium for the tournament, in reference to the Greater Boston area the stadium sits on.

Statistics (Competitions only)

Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Goals
1	1	0	0	1–0

FIFA World Cup

Year	Round	Team 1	Result	Team 2
2002	Round of 16	Germany	1–0 (0–0)	Paraguay

Liebe Trauergemeinde,

die Lage ist ernst, die Stimmung im Keller, und unser Subreddit gleicht derzeit einem Trümmerfeld aus Wut, Weltschmerz und taktischen Offenbarungen. Damit nicht jeder einzelne Seufzer einen eigenen Thread bekommt, bündeln wir das kollektive Leid ab sofort an einem Ort.

Hier ist Platz für alles, was euch auf der Seele brennt:

• Soll Nagelsmann zurücktreten? Selbstverständlich. Genau wie sein Vorgänger, dessen Vorgänger und vermutlich auch ihr selbst, hättet ihr den Posten je angenommen.

• Alles scheiße, kann wer reden? Ja. Wir hören zu. Virtuelle Umarmungen sind im Preis inbegriffen.

• Tiefsinnige Analysen, frisch generiert vom kostenlosen ChatGPT-Plan, inklusive bahnbrechender Erkenntnis, dass man Tore schießen muss, um zu gewinnen. Gerne hier abladen.

Der Kummerkasten ist für euch da. Lasst es raus, sortiert die Gefühle, und denkt daran: Es ist nur Fußball. (Wir glauben selbst kein Wort davon.)

Haltet durch. 🖤

---

Dear grieving congregation,

the situation is dire, morale is in the gutter, and our subreddit currently resembles a smouldering wreckage of rage, world-weariness and tactical revelations. To spare us a separate thread for every individual sigh, we're pooling the collective misery in one place from now on.

This is the place for everything weighing on your soul:

• Should Nagelsmann resign? Naturally. Just like his predecessor, his predecessor's predecessor, and probably you yourself, had you ever taken the job.

• Everything's shit, can someone talk? Yes. We're listening. Virtual hugs are included in the price.

• Profound analyses, freshly generated by the free ChatGPT plan, complete with the groundbreaking insight that you have to score goals in order to win. Feel free to dump them here.

The therapy group is here for you. Let it out, sort through the feelings, and remember: it's only football. (We don't believe a word of it ourselves.)

Hang in there. 🖤