30 May, 19:25

Russia, Paraguay to play friendly in fall of 2026 — football official

The Russian national football team was scheduled to play a friendly football match against Paraguay on March 25, 2024, but the game was called off following the deadly terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region earlier that month

MOSCOW, May 30. /TASS/. The national football teams of Russia and Paraguay will play a friendly football match after the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Russian Football Union (RFU) Secretary General Maxim Mitrofanov told TASS on Friday.

The Russian national football team was scheduled to play a friendly football match against Paraguay on March 25, 2024, but the game was called off following the deadly terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in the Moscow Region earlier that month.

"We are unable to announce additional opponents as of yet," Mitrofanov said. "We have not agreed on anything with Uruguay. The match with Paraguay will take place in 2026 after the [FIFA] World Cup."

After the World Cup, the two clubs will have two windows to fit in a potential game — between September 21 and October 6 — and between October 9 and November 17.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be co-hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The matches will be played in 16 different cities on the North American continent. This will be the first FIFA World Cup featuring 48 teams. Previously, the event took place under a 32-team format.

The Russian national team will play a friendly match against Nigeria on June 6 at the 81,000-seat capacity Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. And on June 10, Russia is scheduled to play an away friendly match against the national squad of Belarus.

Russia has not lost a single friendly since sanctions were introduced against it by world football bodies. What’s more, it hasn’t even given up a goal in its last eight friendlies. These include wins over Cuba (8-0), Serbia (4-0), Belarus (4-0), Vietnam (3-0), Brunei (11-0), Syria (4-0), Grenada (5-0) and Zambia (5-0).

Russia’s football ban

The world’s governing football body, FIFA, announced on February 28, 2022, that the Russian national team and all professional clubs representing the country were barred from participating in FIFA tournaments.

In turn, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) made a similar decision regarding the Russian national football team’s participation in UEFA tournaments.

Both FIFA and UEFA cited Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine as grounds for their respective bans on Russian teams’ participation in competitions.

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