# Paraguay national under-20 football team

Paraguay national under-20 football team represents Paraguay in international football competitions such as FIFA U-20 World Cup and South American Youth Football Championship.
The team's most successful period was mostly during 2001 to 2003 and once again in 2006, achieving Fourth place at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship before winning back-to-back tournaments at the Milk Cup in 2002 and 2003 and once again in 2006. Paraguay also won the 2002 SBS Cup disputed in Shizuoka Japan.

## Overview

The under-20 Paraguay national football team has seen and delivered along the years many of Paraguay's best talents such as Juan Bautista Agüero, Julio César Romero, Roberto Cabañas, Paulo Da Silva, Justo Villar, Salvador Cabañas and Roque Santa Cruz.
The team has participated in 8 events of the FIFA World Youth Championship and the best performance came in the 2001 World Cup held in Argentina, when Paraguay finished in the fourth place. The best performance at the South American level came in 1971 when they won the South American Youth Football Championship (also known as "Juventud de América"), along with four runners-up finishes in 1964, 1967, 1985 and 2009.
Paraguay has qualified for 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup that was held in Egypt.
Current talents for the Paraguay squad include Hernán Pérez, Robin Ramírez, Nicolás Martínez, Federico Santander and Joel Silva.

## Tournament records
### FIFA U-20 World Cup

FIFA U-20 World Cup :
| Hosts / Year | Result | GP | W | D | L | GS | GA |
| 1977 | Group stage | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
| 1979 | Quarter-finals | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
| 1981 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1983 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1985 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 1987 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1989 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1991 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1993 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1995 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 1997 | Group stage | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| 1999 | Round of 16 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 8 |
| 2001 | Fourth place | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
| 2003 | Round of 16 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 2005 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2007 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2009 | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 2011 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2013 | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2015 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2017 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2019 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2023 | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify | Did not qualify |
| 2025 | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified | Qualified |
| Total | 9/24 | 36 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 46 | 47 |

## Current squad

Paraguay announced their 23-man squad on 8 January 2025 for the 2025 South American U-20 Championship. On 14 January 2025, forward Ezequiel González was replaced by David Fernández due to an injury.
Head coach: Aldo Duscher
| No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Club |
| 1 | 1GK | Facundo Insfrán | (2006-05-04)4 May 2006 (aged 18) | Olimpia |
| 2 | 2DF | Matías Argüello | (2005-02-01)1 February 2005 (aged 19) | Olimpia |
| 3 | 2DF | Axel Balbuena | (2006-03-10)10 March 2006 (aged 18) | Lanús |
| 4 | 2DF | Diego León | (2007-04-03)3 April 2007 (aged 17) | Cerro Porteño |
| 5 | 2DF | Lucas Quintana (captain) | (2005-01-02)2 January 2005 (aged 20) | Cerro Porteño |
| 6 | 3MF | Ángel Aguayo | (2006-05-30)30 May 2006 (aged 18) | Sol de América |
| 7 | 4FW | Gabriel Aguayo | (2005-02-10)10 February 2005 (aged 19) | Cerro Porteño |
| 8 | 3MF | Santiago Puzzo | (2006-06-30)30 June 2006 (aged 18) | Talleres (C) |
| 9 | 4FW | Tiago Caballero | (2005-05-27)27 May 2005 (aged 19) | Nacional |
| 10 | 3MF | Luca Kmet | (2005-07-20)20 July 2005 (aged 19) | Lanús |
| 11 | 4FW | César Miño | (2007-05-31)31 May 2007 (aged 17) | Guaraní |
| 12 | 1GK | Víctor Rojas | (2005-02-01)1 February 2005 (aged 19) | Libertad |
| 13 | 2DF | Diego Ramos | (2005-10-09)9 October 2005 (aged 19) | Guaraní |
| 14 | 2DF | Tobías Morinigo | (2005-09-22)22 September 2005 (aged 19) | Olimpia |
| 15 | 2DF | Gadiel Paoli | (2005-10-01)1 October 2005 (aged 19) | Boca Juniors |
| 16 | 3MF | Lucas Gómez | (2005-04-23)23 April 2005 (aged 19) | Guaraní |
| 17 | 4FW | Alexis Fretes | (2005-09-25)25 September 2005 (aged 19) | Libertad |
| 18 | 3MF | Lucas Guiñazú | (2006-08-25)25 August 2006 (aged 16) | Libertad |
| 19 | 4FW | David Fernández | (2006-01-05)5 January 2006 (aged 19) | Sol de América |
| 20 | 2DF | Maximiliano Duarte | (2006-09-02)2 September 2006 (aged 18) | Independiente |
| 21 | 3MF | Octavio Alfonso | (2005-12-19)19 December 2005 (aged 19) | Guaraní |
| 22 | 1GK | Leonardo Sosa | (2007-04-18)18 April 2007 (aged 17) | Rosario Central |
| 23 | 4FW | Anderson Leguizamón | (2006-02-17)17 February 2006 (aged 18) | Guaraní |

## Head-to-head record

The following table shows Paraguay's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
| Opponent | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Argentina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | −5 | 000.00 |
| Austria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 100.00 |
| China | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Costa Rica | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | +2 | 050.00 |
| Czech Republic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 100.00 |
| England | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Egypt | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 050.00 |
| France | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Germany | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 050.00 |
| Ghana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Greece | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Iran | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 100.00 |
| Iraq | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 050.00 |
| Italy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Japan | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Mali | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Mexico | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 050.00 |
| Nigeria | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
| Portugal | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 000.00 |
| South Korea | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 066.67 |
| Soviet Union | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 000.00 |
| Spain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Ukraine | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 100.00 |
| United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Uruguay | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | +0 | 000.00 |
| Total | 36 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 46 | 47 | −1 | 036.11 |