{"id":17809,"date":"2026-06-30T13:03:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T01:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=17809"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T01:03:48","slug":"paraguay-knock-germany-out-of-world-cup-on-penalties-in-major-upset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/?p=17809","title":{"rendered":"Paraguay knock Germany out of World Cup on penalties in major upset"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Germany crashed out of the World Cup at the hands of Paraguay in the last 32 after losing 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Foxborough on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It marks the first time that Germany have ever lost a penalty shootout at a World Cup.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Julio Enciso headed Paraguay into a shock lead before half-time, but Kai Havertz levelled for Germany on 54 minutes with his third goal of the tournament.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Jonathan Tah saw a goal disallowed after a VAR review in extra time, before Paraguay held on to shock Germany in a wild, nerve-jangling shootout as the momentum swung back and forth.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill saved from Havertz and Nick Woltemade, but his teammates blew two chances to win it before Jose Canale blasted in the winning spot-kick after Tah had blazed his effort over the bar.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It marked another premature exit for Germany who were playing in their first knockout-stage appearance since winning the 2014 World Cup.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Paraguay celebrated arguably their greatest win at the tournament, but they face the daunting prospect of running into an in-form France next should Les Bleus beat Sweden.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Julian Nagelsmann handed Deniz Undav his first start of the tournament, after the Stuttgart striker scored three times in the opening two games as a substitute.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He came in for Jamal Musiala as Nathaniel Brown returned at left-back, having missed the Ecuador loss as a precaution due to a minor injury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Miguel Almiron was recalled by Paraguay following a one-match ban after becoming the first player to be sent off for covering his mouth during an on-field confrontation under new FIFA rules.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Paraguay coach Gustavo Alfaro had urged his players to grasp the opportunity of a lifetime, and they came close to scoring barely a minute into the game.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Junior Alonso found space at the back post from a corner but was unable to beat Manuel Neuer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"FOXBOROUGH,<\/div>
Germany’s dejection after their loss through the penalty shootout.<\/p>\n

Michael Reaves<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Germany’s 7-1 win over Curacao in their opener offered a glimpse of their attacking firepower, but it papered over what has otherwise been an often blunt forward line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Undav floated an effort wide as Germany struggled to break down a compact Paraguay defence, and they paid the price when they lost their shape before half-time, allowing Enciso to head home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Paraguay recycled possession after Neuer punched clear a corner, working it out wide on the right for Matias Galarza to fizz in a cross that picked out a completely unmarked Enciso.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Remarkably, it was Paraguay’s first goal in the World Cup knockout stage, having failed to score in their previous five matches, including a 1-0 defeat by Germany in the last 16 in 2002.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Germany, toothless in the first half, brought Leon Goretzka on at the break but almost conceded again when an under-hit backpass from Joshua Kimmich forced Neuer to race out and stop Enciso doubling the lead.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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However, they at last breached Paraguay’s dogged rearguard when Florian Wirtz cut in from the left and delivered a cross that Havertz glanced into the far corner to ease Germany’s nerves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Paraguay lost Enciso to injury, and with it their main outlet, leading to a growing sense of inevitability that Germany’s pressure would eventually tell.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But Orlando Gill reacted sharply to claw away Havertz’s header from another Wirtz cross and Paraguay bravely clung on to send the match into extra time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Tah thought he had put Germany in front with a powerful back-post header from Nathaniel Brown’s looping corner, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review for a foul by Waldemar Anton on the goalkeeper.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Anton headed straight at Gill from another corner, but Paraguay withstood Germany’s set-piece barrage and then kept their cool to spring a monumental World Cup upset.<\/p>\n

Source: AFP & RNZ<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Germany crashed out of the World Cup at the hands of Paraguay in the last 32 after losing 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in Foxborough on Monday. It marks the first time that Germany have ever lost a penalty shootout at a World Cup. Julio Enciso headed Paraguay into a shock lead before […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17811,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17809\/revisions\/17811"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thebuzz.apnanetwork.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}