Germany were knocked out of the 2026 World Cup in the last 32 after a penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay, with Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade both missing spot kicks in a historic first shootout loss for Die Mannschaft
Germany have been dumped OUT of the World Cup following a shocking penalty shootout loss to Paraguay in the last 32.
Arsenal’s Kai Havertz and Newcastle’s Nick Woltemade both crucially missed from 12 yards after the clash finished 1-1 following extra time.
Paraguay defender Jose Canale became the unlikely hero despite the South Americans having squandered two opportunities to clinch victory beforehand.
It represents the first time Germany have ever lost on penalties at the World Cup, having previously succeeded in all four of their earlier shootouts, netting 17 of 18 spot kicks in the process.
However, their luck abandoned them after an uninspiring 120 minutes and they are now bound for home.
Paraguay signalled their intent by winning a corner within the opening minute and almost capitalised. The ball fell to Junior Alonso at the back post but he couldn’t make clean contact when trying to finish.
Germany then dominated possession afterwards, though without creating many clear-cut scoring opportunities.
Their inability to be ruthless proved damaging when Paraguay struck against the flow of play late in the first half.
The underdogs won a corner which Manuel Neuer punched clear. The ball was moved out to the right wing where Miguel Almiron slipped a reverse pass through to Matias Galarza.
His cross was spot-on, finding the head of former Brighton and Ipswich striker Julio Enciso, who thundered his header into the goal from 12 yards out. This undoubtedly led to some stern words at half-time from Germany manager Julien Nagelsmann.
Die Mannschaft returned after the break with a renewed sense of purpose.
Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz sent in a sublime cross from deep, and Arsenal forward Havertz’s delicate flick header found the bottom corner to equalise.
Havertz had the chance to bag a second in the 78th minute from the same provider. Wirtz delivered a ball into the edge of the six-yard box, but the Gunners striker could only direct his header straight into the hands of goalkeeper Orlando Gill.
Despite dominating 76% of possession throughout the 90 minutes, Germany managed only three shots on target and the match went into extra time.
Newcastle striker Woltemade, brought on as a substitute, fired a shot towards goal which hit the elbow of Paraguayan defender Gustavo Gomez. However, his arm was judged to be in a natural position and Gomez was deemed too close to the shot to react.
The pressure seemed to finally pay off 12 minutes into the additional period when Jonathan Tah headed a goal into the net from Nathaniel Brown’s corner.
However, VAR intervened and, after reviewing the footage, the referee decided that Waldemar Anton had fouled goalkeeper Gill. Contact appeared minimal, but the goal was disallowed.
Anton then wasted a golden chance to decide the tie in the final moments of extra time, steering a close-range header directly into Gill’s grasp. That left the contest to be determined by penalties, with Havertz seeing his effort saved.
Paraguay netted their first three before Woltemade’s miss, giving them two opportunities to clinch victory.
Yet Antonio Sanabria dragged his penalty wide before former West Ham defender Fabian Balbuena saw his spot kick kept out.
Tah then blazed his penalty over the crossbar as the shootout went to sudden death, with Jose Canale slotting home the winning kick.
Paraguay advance to the last 16, where they will meet either France or Sweden.