Germany loses in penalty shootout – Paraguay advances to quarterfinals
The German football national team is experiencing another World Cup debacle. In the first knockout round, it's already over against Paraguay. The weak DFB team lost for the first time in World Cup history in a penalty shootout.
The German football national team lost to Paraguay in a penalty shootout and is eliminated from the World Cup. After 90 and 120 minutes, it was 1:1. The team of coach Julian Nagelsmann had the ball most of the time, but rarely knew what to do with it. There was a lack of ideas and tempo.
The duo of Undav and Havertz was completely ineffective, and on the offensive wings, Leroy Sané and Wirtz either didn't make it through or made things worse with mistakes and easy ball losses. There was a lack of almost everything in the offensive area, despite extreme dominance. The DFB team navigated like a heavy tanker that quickly ran into trouble.
In one of the few advances of the extremely passive South Americans, Julio Enciso brought Paraguay ahead with a header (42nd minute). This could be equalized by Kai Havertz after the break with a header (54th minute). It went into extra time. There, a goal by Jonathan Tah was unfairly disallowed. The team can complain about this scene, but the fact is that Paraguay could not have come so far with its limited means.
So saw it also Christoph Kramer. The 2014 World Champion said in the ZDF: „Paraguay should not come into the penalty shootout against us.“ But it did. 3:1 led the South Americans, and everything looked like the German exit. Then Paraguay missed twice. The DFB team got a new and unexpected life. This chased Tah into the night sky of Boston. With this, three German shooters missed, including the center-back, Havertz and Nick Woltemade. Goalkeeper Manuel could parry a penalty, and another missed the German goal. The third match ball was then taken by the opponent. Germany lost its first penalty shootout in World Cup history and is out.
For Nagelsmann, the air after this disaster will now be extremely thin. Last result: Germany 1-1 Paraguay (2026-06-29). The German football national team has won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 of their last five games (DLWWW). The next game will take place on September 24, 2026 against the Netherlands.
