38 days to the World Cup: José Luis Chilavert, Paraguay goalkeeper and set-piece specialist

The countdown to the 2026 World Cup is on! Each day ahead of the tournament’s return to North America, Yahoo Sports will highlight an insight or moment that showcases just how grand the world’s biggest sporting spectacle has become — even beyond the expanded field of this year’s global event.

It was during the 1978 World Cup when Peruvian soccer legend Teófilo Cubillas scored one of his two opening-game goals against Scotland via a free kick. His outside-of-the-foot blast during a 3-1 victory would inspire José Luis Chilavert to want to take on the pressure of set pieces.

The difference between Cubillas and Chilavert was that Chilavert was a goalkeeper — a position that isn’t known for going up field for free kicks or being relied upon to attempt penalties.

“When I saw [Cubillas’] goal, I decided that I wanted to take free-kicks too,” Chilavert would later say.

Chilavert became more a ball-player goalkeeper as his professional career went on. At one point, he started practicing taking free kicks and penalties to make himself even more dangerous on the field. He would eventually become a set-piece taker for his club teams and got his chance for a magic moment 20 years after Cubillas’ goal.

During Paraguay's opening match against Bulgaria at the 1998 World Cup, Chilavert had his opportunity and became the first goalkeeper to take a direct free-kick in the tournament. His shot nearly found the top corner, but was parried over the cross bar by fellow goalkeeper Zdravko Zdravkov.

At the 2002 World Cup four years later, Chilavert tried his luck again against Slovenia’s Mladen Dabanovič. Like in 1998, his attempt nearly found the back of the net, but was tipped over the bar.

Chilavert retired in 2003 after scoring 67 career goals, including eight for Paraguay. He is the second-highest scoring goalkeeper ever, only behind Brazil's Rogério Ceni (129).

“Coaches don’t agree with it - they think it puts the team in danger," said Chilavert. "But if you happen to have a keeper who's better at it than your outfield players, why not give it a try?”