finished third in the CONMEBOL standings. Despite injury restricting him to a substitute appearance in the team's opening match of the tournament finals against champions Italy, Santa Cruz went on to start in Paraguay's second and third Group F matches, as well as the round of 16 defeat of Japan in Pretoria. This result took Paraguay to its first ever World Cup quarter-final, where the team lost 0–1 to eventual champions Spain, with Santa Cruz appearing as a 72nd-minute substitute. 2011 Copa América Santa Cruz was part of Paraguay's starting eleven players for the 2011 Copa América. On 3 July, he played in Paraguay's opening group stage fixture, a 0–0 draw against Ecuador. He played 83 minutes of the match before being substituted off of the field for Pablo Zeballos. In Paraguay's second group stage fixture on 9 July, Santa Cruz Paraguay's first goal in the 54th minute of their 2–2 draw against Brazil in Córdoba. Santa Cruz was awarded as the Man of the Match of the 2–2 draw. His goal brought him to a total of 25 goals for Paraguay, making him the joint all-time leading goal scorer of the Paraguay national team's history, with José Saturnino Cardozo. On 13 July, Santa Cruz played just 39 minutes of Paraguay's last group stage match against Venezuela before being replaced by Nelson Valdez. The match finished as a 3–3 draw and Paraguay finished in third place of their respective group, with three points, qualifying for the quarter finals stages. On 17 July, Santa Cruz would not take part in Paraguay's quarter final match against Brazil. Paraguay eventually beat Brazil 2–0 via penalty shoot-out and qualified for the semi-final. In Paraguay's semi-final victory against Venezuela on 20 July, Santa Cruz was substituted onto the field in the 73rd minute for Nelson Valdez, however due to an injury, he was substituted off of the field in the 80th minute for Osvaldo Martínez. Paraguay had beat Venezuela 5–3 via penalty shoot-out and qualified for the final where they faced Uruguay at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti in Buenos Aires on 24 July. Santa Cruz did not take part in the final, where which Paraguay were beaten 3–0 and finished runners-up. 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification On 7 June 2013, in a 2014 World Cup qualification match against Chile, Santa Cruz scored his 26th international goal and became the leading goalscorer for Paraguay.