Almiron: Playing World Cup in Atlanta would be beautiful

 Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almiron speaks to FIFA about Paraguay's return to the World Cup and ending the nation's years of "suffering".

• Almiron helped Paraguay seal FIFA World Cup return

• Atlanta United playmaker eyes match in adopted hometown

• “This is what I always dreamed about as a kid,” he tells FIFA

Miguel Almiron has already achieved his childhood dream of helping Paraguay qualify for the global finals. Now the attacking midfielder is praying the South Americans will play in his adopted hometown of Atlanta at the FIFA World Cup 26™.

Almiron, who sealed a return to Atlanta United from Newcastle United in January, after an initial successful three-year spell at the Major League Soccer (MLS) club, will find out if his wishes have come true at the Final Draw, which is taking place at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC on 5 December. The spectacular Atlanta Stadium will host eight matches at next year's global showpiece, including five group-stage fixtures, as well as games in the Round of 32, Round of 16 and semi-finals.

In the meantime, the 31-year-old has been revelling in Paraguay's return to the global showpiece for the first time since South Africa 2010 after Gustavo Alfaro rejuvenated a team that lost all three matches at the Copa America 2024.

Almiron was 16 years old when La Albirroja reached the quarter-finals in South Africa and he was glued to the TV at home, watching his country compete on the highest stage. Now, after being part of two failed qualifying campaigns, he is poised to realize his childhood dreams.

‘Miggy’, as he is affectionately known to fans, spoke to FIFA about his World Cup memories, Paraguay's pain and frustration in recent years, and the resurgence under Alfaro.

FIFA: What are your biggest World Cup memories growing up?

Miguel Almiron: I remember in 2010 I was at home with my friends watching Paraguay’s first game of the World Cup. It fills you with pride to see your country in a competition of that level, and you always dream of that. I always said that one day I was going to play in a World Cup, and now Paraguay is in and we have to prepare ourselves in the best way possible.

Tata Martino, just as he made history here in Atlanta, he did the same with Paraguay in 2010, a historic team with players that left their mark in history like Roque Santa Cruz, Oscar Cardoso. Now we will do our part to try to lift our country as high as possible.

And how does it feel now that you are able to achieve that goal?

I feel very happy, more than anything because that was always the dream that I had as a kid since I started playing, that’s something very important for a player: to represent your country at such an important competition like the World Cup. I’ve been fighting for this moment with the national team for nine years, and I think this moment is so beautiful for everything that we went through previously. We were able to achieve the qualification that we and the people wanted so bad. It’s what I always dreamed about as a kid, to take my country to a World Cup, represent my country at something so important. There’s no comparison.

What was the feeling in the team and the country overall when Paraguay secured their place in the World Cup?

First, I thank God for the opportunity to be here now, and to be healthy to play those games and experience it with my family and the people in Paraguay. Everything arrives at the right moment, you just have to keep working. It makes me very happy for the people in Paraguay, a nation that has suffered. We know how difficult it is to come to the stadium and support us, so more than anything I’m happy for my family and the people of Paraguay.

Was it even sweeter considering that Paraguay has not been at the World Cup since South Africa 2010?

We fought a lot, we had to go through a lot of difficult moments to reach this qualification. I’m most happy for the people of Paraguay because they’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

Why do you think it all came together in this qualifying campaign?

I think everyone knows about Profe Alfaro’s capacity as a coach and for us his arrival was very important, emotionally, personally, it motivated the group to believe in ourselves again. We were coming off an unfortunate Copa America where we didn’t get a point. We were hurting, players like myself and Gustavo Gomez, our captain, who had been in the team a long time and suffered a lot of blows. First, we started to regain our confidence personally, and then tactically he started to give us an idea. Players need the tools to be able to compete with other national teams and thank God we qualified. 

The national team has great players to keep improving. We don’t want to go to the World Cup just to see what happens. I know it’s difficult because there are many good teams, but we’re going to try to work hard to go and compete, which is what we all want.

What would it mean for you to play a World Cup match in Atlanta?

I think playing a World Cup match in Atlanta would be something beautiful for me. Everyone knows what Atlanta means for me and my family, and also what Paraguay means to me. God willing, hopefully it happens.