The first penalty shoot-out of the 2026 World Cup resulted in Paraguay eliminating Germany, as the four-time winners failed to reach the last 16 once again.
Germany crashed out of the World Cup as Paraguay pulled off a stunning upset with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out victory after a dramatic 1-1 draw at Boston Stadium.
Jonathan Tah had a goal controversially ruled out in extra time, and the defender missed the crucial penalty in sudden death, paving the way for Paraguay to claim a famous victory and move into the last 16.
Paraguay showed their intent from the get-go, with Julio Enciso leading a charge down the left and Júnior Alonso forcing Manuel Neuer into action inside the opening two minutes.
And a desperately disappointing first-half display from Germany was punished in the 42nd minute, with the unmarked Enciso heading home from Matías Galarza‘s centre, bringing up Paraguay’s first ever knockout-stage goal at the World Cup in what was their sixth such match.
Julian Nagelsmann introduced Leon Goretzka for the second half, but Germany’s flat performance continued, and a sloppy mistake from Joshua Kimmich almost proved costly, with Neuer thwarting Enciso.
Yet an early, drilled cross from Florian Wirtz finally created an opening, with Kai Havertz‘s flicking a deft header into the bottom-right corner.
Wirtz and Havertz combined again in the 77th minute, but this time, the latter directed a free header too close to Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill, who reacted sharply to parry clear.
Germany’s decisive breakthrough seemed to have arrived just before half-time in extra time. Nathaniel Brown delivered a brilliant inswinging corner to the back post, where Tah was on hand to head home, but after a VAR check, the referee deemed Waldemar Anton had blocked Gill, cutting short Germany’s celebrations.
Jamal Musiala was perhaps fortunate to escape with just a yellow for a rash lunge on Galarza, before Anton missed a golden chance to avoid penalties when he headed at Gill from point-blank range.
Gill’s heroics continued into the shoot-out, as he guessed right to palm away Havertz’s weak spot-kick, with Mauricio keeping Paraguay’s momentum up with a fantastic finish.
Kimmich got Germany going with a low strike into the left-hand corner, with Gustavo Gómez and Musiala exchanging successful penalties.
Galarza sent Neuer the wrong way with stunning composure, and another huge moment arrived for Gill as he lunged out to deny Nick Woltemade, only for Antonio Sanabria to skew wide.
And after Nadiem Amiri kept Germany’s hopes alive, Neuer stepped up to deliver as he kept out Fabián Balbuena‘s attempt.
Tah, though, skied his effort way over the crossbar, and this time, Paraguay made it count – José Canale, a towering presence in Paraguay’s defence all game – hammering his strike high into the net.
Germany Get What They Deserve
It is hard to see how Nagelsmann survives this. Germany won their first two games and were within a shout of matching their record of successive wins (12), yet they were outworked and outmatched by Ecuador in their final group game, and then were shocking for large parts of this contest.
Alonso’s effort, timed at 63 seconds, is the earliest shot on target Germany have faced in a World Cup match on record, and it set the tone for a generally dismal display from the European heavyweights.
They will point to that VAR controversy, of course, but they were simply not good enough. Nagelsmann bizarrely elected to start Deniz Undav over Musiala, and Germany could never really link the midfield to attack effectively.
Their only chances came from crosses, with Wirtz particularly dangerous in that regard. He will head out of the tournament having provided three assists, and he led this game for chances created (four), but it was hardly a performance for the playmaker to shout about.
Paraguay defended resolutely all game long; Germany had 21 shots but they combined for just 1.49 expected goals (xG).
Canale, in particular, was colossal, winning all five of his tackles and making a whopping 15 clearances. No other player made more than eight.
Even so, you do not tend to back against Germany in a penalty shootout.
This is the first time they have ever lost a shoot-out at the World Cup, and the inquest will now begin in earnest, as they failed to reach the last 16 for the third straight World Cup, while Paraguay can look forward to a last-16 tie against France or Sweden.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Germany vs Paraguay stats from their 2026 FIFA World Cup round-of-32 meeting at Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts on 29 June.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Germany vs Paraguay: Post-Match Opta Facts
Germany have been eliminated from just the second of their last 10 knockout matches at the FIFA World Cup, after also suffering a defeat in the 2010 semi-final v Spain (1-0).
Paraguay have progressed from just their second ever FIFA World Cup knockout tie, with both coming via penalty shootout victories (won 5-3 on penalties v Japan in the 2010 round of 16).
Germany lost their very first penalty shootout at the FIFA World Cup (5th shootout), and just their second at a major tournament (World Cup/EUROs), also losing to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 UEFA EURO final.
There was 31 places in the FIFA World Rankings prior to the tournament between Germany (10th) and Paraguay (41st), the fourth-largest for a FIFA World Cup knockout elimination (since 1994) after Spain v Russia in 2018 (60), Italy v Korea Republic in 2002 (34) and Spain v Korea Republic in 2002 (32).
Germany had a possession figure of 75.4% in this match, which is the third-highest on record (since 1966) in a FIFA World Cup knockout tie – after Spain v Russia in 2018 (79.3%) and Spain v Morocco in 2022 (76.8%).
Germany have conceded in each of their last 10 FIFA World Cup matches – their longest successive run in the competition’s history.
Julio Enciso has been directly involved in all three of Paraguay’s goals at the 2026 FIFA World Cup (1 goal, 2 assists), with only Russia’s Oleg Salenko (7 in 1994) managing more goal contributions while being involved in 100% of a nation’s goals across a single edition on record (since 1966).
Only Bruno Guimarães (4) has recorded more assists at the 2026 FIFA World Cup than Florian Wirtz (3), while the last Germany player to provide more across a single edition of the competition was Michael Ballack in 2002 (4).
There have been 33 headed goals scored at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with only the 2002 edition (35) featuring more headed goals on record in the competition (since 1966).
Kai Havertz scored his 25th international goal on his 62nd appearance; while he has netted more goals for Germany under Julian Nagelsmann than any other player (12).
Julio Enciso’s opener was Paraguay’s very first goal in the knockout stages of the FIFA World Cup, having failed to score in their five previous knockout ties.
Germany’s Manuel Neuer made his 23rd start at the FIFA World Cup, while only Lionel Messi (26) has made more in the competition’s history.
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