Fabian Balbuena will be left frustrated after Paraguay let a two-goal lead slip against Qatar to draw 2-2.
A fourth minute penalty from Oscar Cardozo, alongside a 56th minute early goal of the tournament contender from substitute Derlis Gonzales put Paraguay 2-0 up – despite having had a goal ruled out after a VAR check.
However, Qatar -who had been invited to partake in the competition alongside Japan – hit back in the 68th minute when Ali Almoez sent a brilliant effort into the top corner from outside the box.
Balbuena and his centre back partner Junior Alonso were then split by a through ball which resulted in Boualem Khoukhi getting a 77th-minute equaliser.
To top things off, the West Ham centre back was given a yellow card in the 80th minute.
It wasn’t the best performance Balbuena has had, as he was given a WhoScored rating of 6.15- which was only worsened by Paraguay goalkeeper Roberto Fernandez and Qatar right-back Miguel Pedro.
Surprisingly, he didn’t make any tackles during the game, but did clear the ball 9 times.
Paraguay will now likely have a struggle on their hands to qualify for the knockout stages, as they have Argentina and Colombia to face in their remaining group games.
