Paraguay fans encourage your team this Thursday, in a match for World Cup 2026.
Photo: EFE – Juan Pablo Pino
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Paraguay returned to a World Cup after 16 years and will do so with a national holiday. President Santiago Peña decreed a holiday for this Friday with the aim of commemorating the classification of the selection to the 2026 World Cup, after the 0-0 draw against Ecuador at the Defensores del Chaco stadium, which mathematically assured the quota directly to the tournament.
“Today the Albirroja returned. He returned with soul, heart and all the Guaraní claw,” the president wrote in his account in X (formerly Twitter). “This is a dream fulfilled for all Paraguayans and that is why tomorrow is a holiday, so that all Paraguayans celebrate together.”
The decree is covered by Law No. 7544/2025, promulgated just this week, which empowers the Executive to establish up to three additional holidays per year to “promote tourist and economic activity or celebrate special occasions”.
From the government they pointed out that they are rarely as symbolism and the return of Albirroja to the maximum football event.
“They had to spend 16 years of our last classification … 16 years without listening to our anthem in a World Cup. Thank you Albirroja! Today the Albirroja returned. He returned with soul, heart and all the Guaraní claw,” Peña said.
The Paraguayan team, directed by Argentine coach Gustavo Alfaro, reached 25 points in the qualifiers table and sealed its classification to the World Cup that will be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico. His last participation had been in South Africa 2010, where he reached the quarterfinals, the best performance in his history.
The Executive clarified that, as in every holiday, workers have the right to mandatory rest. However, sectors employers who cannot stop activities may convene personnel whenever they pay a 100 % surcharge on the ordinary salary, in addition to respecting all current labor rights.
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Exceptions for health services considered essential were also established, including emergencies, surgeries, scheduled consultations, pharmacies, dialysis and blood banks.
Holiday to classify a World Cup
The announcement is part of a regional tradition: in Panama, Peru and Honduras, holidays or holidays had already been decreed after World Cup classifications in the past.
After the classification to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, achieved on October 14 with a victory over El Salvador and thanks to a parallel result in Costa Rica, the then interim president Roberto Micheletti of Honduras decreed national horn so that the Hondurans celebrated the return to the World Cup after 28 years of absence.
On November 16, 2017, after beating New Zealand in Lima and seal the pass to Russia 2018 after 36 years, the government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski in Peru declared the next day as a non-working holiday in Lima and Callao. It was a symbolic gesture that sought to give space to celebrations and national pride.
Probably, the most remembered case in the region. After beating Costa Rica on October 10, 2017 and achieve his first classification in history to a World Cup, President Juan Carlos Varela declared a national holiday for the next day. The measure included classes and closing public offices, which allowed the entire country to celebrate the feat.
However, in Paraguay the celebration acquires a special character for the long wait and the symbolic weight that football has in national identity.
The streets of Asunción and other cities began to fill with fans barely finished the game, with caravans, flags and speakers that prolonged the party during the early morning. For many Paraguayans, the decreed holiday is not only a labor license, but the opportunity to celebrate together a sports achievement that unites the country.
“We returned to the World Cup and celebrated it all,” Peña concluded, officially sealing Paraguay's return to the international football elite.
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