Paraguay have pulled off one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, beating Germany 4-3 on penalties after the two sides finished level at 1-1 following extra time, sending the four-time champions out of the 2026 tournament.
José Canali held his nerve to convert the winning penalty after two of his teammates had missed earlier in the shootout. Germany, for their part, saw Kai Havertz, Nick Füllkrug, and Jonathan Tah all fail to score from the spot. It was the first time Germany had ever lost a World Cup penalty shootout.
Paraguay will face either France or Sweden in the round of 16. It is their deepest run in the tournament since reaching the quarter-finals in 2010.
“I think the feeling is hard to describe,” said Paraguay captain Gustavo Gómez. “I’m very proud of my teammates and this group. We needed to have the Paraguay spirit more than ever today. Germany knew deep down that if they wanted to beat us, they would have to work incredibly hard, because we were going to make defeat very costly for them.”
The match had followed a familiar script for much of its running time. Germany dominated possession, completing 244 passes to Paraguay’s 31 by the 35th minute, yet could not find a single shot on target in the entire first half. Paraguay, disciplined and compact, soaked up the pressure and caught the favourites on the break, with Insiso heading in to give his side the lead — the country’s first ever goal in a World Cup knockout match.
Havertz equalised with a header nine minutes into the second half, and Germany pushed hard for a winner. Tah thought he had scored in the 102nd minute from a corner, but the goal was ruled out after a lengthy VAR review for a foul on the goalkeeper.
Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann, at 38 the youngest manager to be eliminated from a World Cup knockout stage in 40 years, was blunt in his assessment. “If you get knocked out by Paraguay, you’re simply not a top-class footballing nation,” he said. “We didn’t defend well enough after conceding. We lost the ball too easily. I tried a lot of things but we should have scored earlier.”
Germany captain Joshua Kimmich offered no excuses. “We shouldn’t blame the referee or the penalties today. If you can’t beat Paraguay in 120 minutes, you deserve to go out. You can’t rely on your opponent’s luck or bad luck — the squad needs to be good enough to beat this kind of opponent clearly.”
It is a result that deepens a troubling chapter for German football. Having been eliminated in the group stage at both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Germany now exit the 2026 tournament at the round of 32, and Nagelsmann, who had publicly set a target of winning the title, faces intense scrutiny on his return home.
