San Francisco, June 20 (IANS) Paraguay midfielder Matias Galarza etched his name into the FIFA World Cup 2026 record books on Saturday, scoring the fastest goal of the tournament so far with a stunning strike just 64 seconds into his side’s Group Stage match against Türkiye in San Francisco.

The 24-year-old missed Paraguay’s opening game but was handed a spot in the starting line-up and didn’t need much time to make an impact. In the second minute Galarza took advantage of an early attacking move and lashed a ferocious left-footed effort into the bottom corner to give Paraguay the perfect start, and eclipse the previous fastest goal of the tournament. Earlier in the day, Morocco’s Ismael Saibari had the record, netting at 70 seconds in his team’s game against Scotland. But it was Galarza’s strike six seconds earlier that set a new tournament record. The midfielder who plays for MLS side Atalanta United had a dramatic start to the first few minutes. Galarza was booked just two minutes after his record-breaking goal after a mistimed challenge.

Turkey and Paraguay both entered Saturday’s Group D match searching for their first points at the FIFA World Cup 2026 after losing their opening matches.

Turkiye lost 2-0 to Australia while Paraguay fell 4-1 to the United States. Paraguay got the perfect start as Matias Galarza scored after just 65 seconds to give the South Americans the lead in a game with serious group implications. A Türkiye loss would also give the United States a win in Group D with a match to spare. Both sides needed a positive result badly to keep their hopes of progressing to the knockout stage alive.

–IANS

hs/