In the 26th edition of the Women’s World Cup Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the Paraguay team had its fifth participation. The Guaraní team suffered 3 defeats in the group stage, against Hungary, Montenegro and Cameroon. Their performance in the President’s Cup left the team in 29th place.
Paraguay began its participation in the competition against one of the favorite teams in the World Cup: Hungary. Although they had a good start to the match, the Hungarians took advantage of the South American team’s mistakes and demonstrated their superiority on the court, winning 35-12. Two days later, the Paraguayans faced Montenegro, who, with a solid defense and an effective counterattack, beat them 41-26.
Those led by Marizza Faría had one game left to secure their place in the next phase, however, Cameroon prevented it. The African team took control of the game from the beginning, but Paraguay, through effective counterattacks, managed to equalize the match and went to halftime 12-12. In the second half, the tone remained the same, a very even match that remained with a 2-goal difference and gave Cameroon the victory 26-23. With this result, ‘Las Guerreras’ go on to compete in the President’s Cup for positions from 25th to 32nd.
The Guaraní team was looking for its first victory against China, but ended up losing 20-23. Two days later, they faced Iceland, where they also did not have a positive balance and fell 25-19.
After five adverse matches, ‘Las Guerreras’ achieved their first victory against Greenland. Exhibiting a solid defense and executing quick counterattacks, Paraguay achieved its first victory in the World Cup with a final score of 21-19.
Finally, Paraguay closed its participation against Kazakhstan, obtaining 29th place, as in the 2021 World Cup in Spain. The good defensive display of the Paraguayans forced the Asian team to shoot in complicated situations, generating a good number of goals by counterattack , closing the match with a score of 30-26.
Fernanda Insfran, Paraguay national team player: “For the first time in the history of Paraguayan handball we had the opportunity to advance to the first round, but it got out of hand. I think that at the group level it meant a lot, we had very good moments both offensively and defensively. In this type of tournament, the details are what define a result and if we are able to prolong that concentration and those positive moments on the field, I believe we can achieve great things.”
Photo: IHF
