After drawing their first two games in Group B, La Albirroja headed into the clash knowing that victory would have made sure of their progress to the next stage, but Eduardo Berizzo’s side were undone by Gustavo Cuéllar’s strike just after the half-hour mark.

Almirón – withdrawn against Argentina in Paraguay’s previous outing – played all 90 minutes for his country, but must now wait to see if he will have any further involvement in the competition.

Should Ecuador and Japan play out a draw in Belo Horizonte tonight, Paraguay will go through to the quarter-finals as one of the competition’s highest-ranked third-place teams. Victory for either, though, and they will be out.

Elsewhere, Salomón Rondón – who spent the 2018/19 campaign at St. James’ Park – helped Venezuela make it to the last eight with a 3-1 win over Bolivia on Saturday. La Vinotinto will meet the Argentines for a place in the semi-finals – a stage they have only got to once in their history.