After the 1-0 defeat against France in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, Gustavo Alfaro spoke at a press conference and left the question of his continuity as coach of Paraguay open. Although he ruled out any negotiations with other teams, he admitted that he still does not know what decision he will make regarding his professional future.
The coach shared that, as soon as the match ended, the president of the Paraguayan Football Association (APF), Robert Harrison, expressed his desire for him to continue leading the national team. "Just in the locker room Robert spoke, he says to me, professor, this was the first round, we need, I want to count on you for the second round. This is the first time we are seriously talking about this, in front of the players, in front of everyone", he recounted.
Then, Alfaro reflected on how he had been postponing the moment to end his career: "Honestly, I have been avoiding the goal for my family for 5 or 6 years, that I would retire at 60, I am already 63, I played the World Cup with Ecuador, I told them, that's it, ready, I play the World Cup, I retire. When I played the World Cup with Ecuador I thought how nice it would be to play the next World Cup and Paraguay gave me the chance to have another World Cup and I said, ready, when the Paraguay World Cup is over, that's it".
However, he acknowledged that today he does not have a definitive answer. "And well, now it is, what I want is, I don't want any speculation, there is no speculation".
