Antonio García Pye: Lapadula's present and Guerrero's contribution for the Eliminatories.

Less than a month away, the Peruvian National Team will have its first challenge in the Qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup in Mexico, United States, and Canada: we will face Paraguay in Ciudad del Este. For this debut, the national team already has in mind the players who will be in this double date (Brazil is the second match), taking into account their current form and, at the same time, their good physical condition. Now, the truth is that one name ruled out for this stage is that of Gianluca Lapadula, who underwent ankle surgery.

This was announced by Antonio García Pye, who, in an interview with Movistar Deportes, stated that he hopes to have 'Lapagol' back soon "and at 100%, as he has been making special efforts to play. I believe he will be present for most of the Qualifiers." It should be noted that the Italian-Peruvian forward underwent surgery to correct the instability of a medial ligament in his right ankle two weeks ago.

With this absence, it is important to have leaders who can contribute in the attack; one of them is Paolo Guerrero. Regarding his performance in LDU Quito, the FPF executive stated, "we are excited about him, we hope he keeps it up, that he continues at that pace for a long time and for the full 90 minutes, so that he can somehow cover Gianluca's absence. He is proving that he is still in top form, so we have to take full advantage of him.".

Preparations for the Qualifiers

For now, García Pye has already announced that the call-up for the Qualifiers will take place on August 25th, and, as usual, the players from the local tournament will be called up "at least one week before the FIFA date." He also specified that "on September 5th, we will arrive in Ciudad del Este in the afternoon on a charter flight, to have dinner and sleep. The next day, we will do the field recognition and after the match against Paraguay (scheduled for September 7th) we will return to Lima for the match against Brazil.".

Although he reiterated that the Antonio Aranda stadium in Paraguay is not in the best condition, he hopes that by September 7th it will be in better condition. One detail, the FPF national teams manager stated that the Colo Colo colossus "is in pretty good shape, so there won't be any inconvenience from that side". Peru will face Chile in October.

Finally, he stated that they will continue to evaluate the sports venues that will host the Peruvian National Team's home matches. "Nothing is ruled out. Neither the Monumental, nor the Alianza stadium, nor the one in Arequipa. We will handle that as the Qualifiers progress," emphasized the FPF national teams manager.

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