• Paraguay first team to guarantee place in Round of 16
  • Two goals for Anibal Vega, two own goals for Alexis Duarte
  • Paraguay face Turkey in Navi Mumbai, New Zealand take on Mali in New Delhi in final group games

For the second match running Paraguay scored late goals to have the better of a high-scoring thriller, this time beating New Zealand 4-2 to qualify for the knockout rounds after two matches at the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.

Anibal Vega was the hero for the South Americans, bagging a brace in a three-minute stretch of the second half, which papered over a first half nightmare for Alexis Duarte, who was unfortunate to bulge his own net twice in a 14-minute stretch.

It was lined up to be a more simple evening for the Paraguayans after they went ahead in the second minute through Alan Rodriguez, but Duarte’s night went bad in the 20th minute and got worse from there as the Kiwis pressed into the attacking third.

Stunned to be behind, Los Guaranies spurred to life as the second half wore on, and Julio Baez just skimmed the bar in the 69th minute. Vega’s decisive goals were both created with aplomb by Leonardo Sanchez, and Blas Armoa finished the entertaining contest with another tally from a speculative long ball a minute into injury time.

Story courtesy of FIFA