World Cup 2026: Paraguay revival, Australia resurgence, Uzbekistan debut impact

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup fast approaching, attention is increasingly shifting beyond the traditional powerhouses to teams looking to make a statement on football's biggest stage.

Paraguay, Switzerland, Australia and Uzbekistan arrive with vastly different histories, ambitions and challenges, yet all four carry compelling stories of revival, resilience and transformation.

From Paraguay's dramatic turnaround under Gustavo Alfaro and Uzbekistan's historic first-ever qualification to Switzerland's quest to rediscover past glory and Australia's resurgence following a mid-campaign coaching change, these nations will be eager to prove they belong among the world's elite when the tournament kicks off.

Paraguay

After the first six qualifier matches of CONMEBOL, a tough competition that features the football-mad countries, Paraguay seemed to be on the way out of the finals. But destiny changed the script, and how? Argentina's Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Daniel Garneto were eased out from the dugout as coaches, and Gustavo Alfaro came in, and this turned out to be a big stroke of luck.

The same team that won one match in the first six and found the back of the net only once saw a dramatic change in the next twelve qualifiers, losing one match and advancing to the finals, finishing among the top six teams - in fact, it was placed sixth, the last automatic qualifying spot, and eight points ahead of the seventh. Such was the change of fortune that it thrilled the fans who did not see its team in action in the previous finals in Brazil, Russia and Qatar.

Alfaro is also from Argentina, and after his tactical changes, Paraguay finished the table with seven wins and draws each and four defeats. It had 28 points, the same as Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil; Bolivia was seventh with 20 points. After such a dismal opening phase, Paraguay clinched the qualification with a stalemate against Ecuador. It beat Peru 1-0 in the last qualification match.

However, the results after its last qualification match have been disappointing; it has lost 0-3 to South Korea, 1-2 to USA and 1-2 to Morocco. The South American country will take on USA, Turkey and Australia, and it will enter the field with a stout heart to confront three teams that will fancy its chances to progress to the second stage of 32.

It had beaten Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina in the home matches of the qualification process; these three results should also give them plenty of confidence in their skill sets.

One of the things Manager Alfaro did was bring the team together with only one table in the team hotel room. He believed that different tables meant forming groups based on juniors and seniors. Alfaro is pragmatic; he is merely promising the fans that Paraguay will compete hard and show the resilience it is known for.

The team has two superbly talented players in Julio Ensico (139 international matches and Diego Gomez (112 international matches) who play in the front. Alfaro had to be flexible in a few friendlies, considering options for high-altitude matches, but he is expected to rely on a 4-2-3-1 system.

Switzerland

It will be Switzerland's 12th entry into the World Cup finals, which straightaway points to the popularity of the sport in a country known for watches and chocolates. It has reached the quarter-finals twice, in 1934 and 1938, and once in 1954, which means its real glory days were seven decades ago.

Drawn in a group that has Kosovo, Slovenia and Sweden, Switzerland put up a dominant show, winning four and ending with 14 points. Coached by Murat Yakin, the team improved in the qualifiers after a lacklustre display in the UEFA Nations Cup, losing four matches in a group that included Spain, Denmark and Serbia.

After the Nations Cup setback, three of its senior players retired, and to regroup, the coach took the team for training in the USA and Mexico last June - a trip that worked in team bonding, and it helped in an emphatic display in the World Cup qualifiers.

Yakin has been with the team for close to five years and has won 25 matches and drawn 20 in the 58 matches Switzerland has played under him. He believes in a reliable starting lineup and sustaining it in a tournament, and he has stuck to a 4-man backline.

It has prepared itself by playing Germany, Norway and Jordon in FIFA Friendlies and is set to play Australia in a last warm-up before the Cup Finals scrap against Qatar, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Canada. It lost 0-1 to the Arab nation in a friendly in 2018, 0-2 to Bosnia & Herzegovina in 2016 and 1-3 to Canada in 2002.

Australia

A country in the Antipodes, Australia entered its sixth consecutive World Cup with a second position in the Asia & Oceania group with a 1-0 victory against Japan at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The lone goal was scored by defender Aziz Behich - his first goal in 13 years! Australia beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 thereafter.

It was only Australia's fourth win against Japan since 1969 and in 18 matches. Like Paraguay, a change of coach during the qualification process, after defeats against Bahrain and a drawn match against Indonesia, saw results falling in favour of the Australian side.

Graham Arnold was forced to leave the scene of action, and Tony Popovic took charge from the match against China. Australia won 3-1 and has not looked back since. Popovic played in the 2006 World Cup; he was capped 58 times.

From reports, it is quite evident that Popovic will fortify his back line. He chooses both the 3-4-2-1 and 5-4-1 style. The team will miss the experienced Lewis Miller, though, because of an injury - a damaged Achilles.

After securing a place in the finals, Australia has played eight matches, including the recent ones against Cameroon and Curacao, but it lost 0-3 to Colombia, 0-1 to Venezuela, 1-2 to the USA, and 0-1 to Mexico. Australia needs a lot of luck and plenty of goals to enter the round of 32. A couple of players opted to play for Greece and Croatia.

Uzbekistan

The team known as "white wolves" created history by advancing to the World Cup finals for the first time. In the second stage of the AFC qualification process, it finished second to Iran, winning four matches, and in the third stage, the Central Asian country again finished second behind Iran to get the second automatic spot from its group.

Uzbekistan won six matches and clinched its qualification with a 0-0 draw against the United Arab Emirates. It went on to thrash Qatar 3-0 in the last group outing. Thereafter, it beat Iran 1-0 to win the CAFA Cup.

Its preparation for the finals saw it go down to superior teams like Uruguay and Canada. It has one warm-up game against the Netherlands before taking on Colombia, Portugal and DR Congo - all first-time clashes.

It will be interesting to see what the Italian coach Fabia Cannavaro does to inspire his team. The team lost the experienced Srecko Katanec because of failing health, after which Timur Kapadze filled the void.

The national federation chose a foreign coach, and it was between German Joachim Low, Portuguese Paulo Rento and Cannavaro. The Italian will try to inculcate the Italian way of playing the game, but he will, first and foremost, start with choosing a strong defence - he has tried a 3-man and 5- man defence in the friendlies, which says he could be flexible and change as per the needs of the hour on the pitch.

The World Cup is all about making an impact and first impression, and Uzbekistan will try to do that.