The Paraguay national team is preparing to face France in the 2026 World Cup, a matchup that recalls the 'Golden Goal' by Laurent Blanc in 1998.

What happened in 1998?

The Paraguay team, led by coach Paulo César Carpegiani, stood strong against host France, resisted for nearly two hours of play, and came close to pushing one of the tournament's top favorites to a dramatic penalty shootout.

The Guarani wall

France arrived at that match as one of the top contenders for the title and with the pressure of playing at home. Despite the absence of Zinedine Zidane, suspended for that match, the French had a squad of enormous hierarchy, led by Didier Deschamps, the current French coach, as well as stars like Thierry Henry, Youri Djorkaeff, Marcel Desailly, and Laurent Blanc.

The cruelest blow

With the score tied at 0-0, the match went into extra time. At that time, FIFA had introduced the 'Golden Goal' rule, a system that stated that the first team to score during extra time would automatically win the match and advance, without needing to complete the 30 minutes of extra time. | Date | Result | | --- | --- | | 2025-11-19 | Mexico 1-2 Paraguay | | Recent form | 2W-0D-3L (WWLLL, most recent first) |

Paraguay fell on their feet, after having taken the future world champion to the limit, but with the bitterness of seeing how a monumental performance disappeared in an instant. That goal by Laurent Blanc was forever etched in the memory of Paraguayan football and also in the history of the World Cups, because it was the first 'Golden Goal' recorded.