Four-time champions Germany were knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 after suffering a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay in their Round of 32 clash on Monday (Tuesday IST). The game was tied at 1 after extra time before the Paraguayans jumped at what was one of the biggest upsets in the tournament.
Germany’s hopes were put to rest in the shootout with Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade and Jonathan Tah all missing. Antonio Sanabria and Fabián Balbuena also failed with an equaliser but José Canale put Paraguay through the motions after the break to find the decisive sudden death penalty.
The loss put an end to Germany’s legendary streak of penalty shoot outs they had never losing throughout their FIFA World Cup history. Then that 20-game winning streak came to an end at Gillette stadium in Foxborough, with the four-time champions again having a poor outing.
The team’s triumph was their second at World Cup penalty shootout games since beating Japan in the Round of 16 of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. However, this time the stakes were far greater as they knocked out one of the world’s most decorated nations from football.
Germany’s goals have helped stave off their plight to repeat a campaign on their biggest stage – reaching the knockout stages for the first time since winning the World Cup in 2014. But Julian Nagelsmann’s men were in the frame in the opener and didn’t take the opportunity when the Stram and Kahn got underway before they were outgunned in the shootout.
Paraguay are now moving on to the Round of 16 after the Swedish challenge took them to 2-1 on the scoreboard. Buoyed by their historic triumph, Paraguay will head into the next round full of confidence as they continue their impressive World Cup campaign.