Peru finished its 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a 1-0 loss to Paraguay at the Estadio Nacional in Lima, according to La República. This defeat left Peru in second-to-last place with only 12 points, marking Paraguay’s first qualifying win in Lima.
After the game, Carlos Zambrano shared a straightforward evaluation. “It’s tough to end like this. We hoped for a better result for ourselves and the supporters. There’s talk about a generational change, but we’re the ones here. Luckily, the difficult times are over because it was not good. We all share responsibility: the FPF, the coaches, and especially us players since we are the ones on the field,” said the Alianza Lima defender.
Zambrano recognized that this campaign marks the end of a period for the national team. “It’s hard, yes, an era is over. We are nearly out, and we hope things improve for Peruvian football. Blaming each other doesn’t help; we must accept that Peru has never been a major force. We’ve only qualified for the World Cup a few times. We are a modest team that competes with what we have,” he concluded.
Peru’s next challenge will be a friendly match against Chile in Concepción in October, with the specific date and time yet to be announced.
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