Germany lose – Germany went out of the World Cup after a first-ever penalty shootout loss, as Paraguay stunned them with a headed opener from Julio Enciso, then withstood a late equaliser from Kai Havertz, won the VAR-disallowed extra-time goal controversy on penalties, and
When Germany players walked off the pitch at Gillette Stadium, the temperature sat at 84F (29C) and the pain had already settled in. This was not just another knockout exit. It was the first time Germany had ever lost a World Cup penalty shootout.
Paraguay had the lower ranking — 33rd in the world — and Germany were 12th. The first half belonged to Germany in territory and control, but it didn’t translate into clear chances. Then Paraguay punished a mistake. and it was the kind that changes matches in an instant: awful defending left Julio Enciso unmarked on the penalty spot. where he headed in to make Paraguay lead.
Germany spent minutes after that goal trying to untangle the problem they’d created. Nine minutes after the match restarted in the second half, they finally did it. Kai Havertz met the moment with a header to level.
Since winning the World Cup final in 2014, Germany had not won a knockout game. This match became the first of the tournament to go to extra time. and it should have swung their way in the first half of that added period. Germany thought they had taken the lead when Jonathan Tah’s header appeared to go in — until referee Jalal Jayed ruled it out after a VAR review. Paraguay took the game to penalties.
In those shootout moments, Germany’s history looked like it was about to be too much for anyone else to overcome. Germany had scored each of their past 15 spot kicks at a World Cup. But this time the start belonged to Paraguay: Orlando Gill saved Havertz’s first penalty.
From there, every kick carried a consequence. Mauricio scored for Paraguay to make it 1-0. Gill pounded his gloves together before Joshua Kimmich rolled in for 1-1. Gustavo Gomez then made it 2-1 for Paraguay.
Jamal Musiala put his penalty past a dancing Gill to pull Germany level again. Matias Galarza responded for Paraguay to restore the advantage at 3-2, and Gill added another statement save by stopping a penalty from Nick Woltemade.
Germany had chances to force it back. Antonio Sanabria could have won it but shot wide. Then Neuer’s end of the shootout became a sudden drama of twists. Nadiem Amiri made it 3-3. and Manuel Neuer saved from Fabian Balbuena. creating the kind of momentum flip that can make a shootout feel inevitable for whichever side is holding their breath.
Tah — whose header had been disallowed earlier — then blazed over the bar for Germany. Jose Canale blasted in the winner, sending Paraguay into dreamland.
The shock was bigger than the emotion around it. It was the fourth-biggest knockout shock by rankings since they began in 1992.
Germany’s own shootout record now reads differently. They had won their previous four penalty shootouts, and they had only missed one penalty in a World Cup shootout before. This time, with Havertz, Woltemade and Tah all missing, the loss was complete.
And it left a familiar kind of aftertaste for Germany: a tournament failure that feels sharper because they are not the team people expect to keep slipping. Before this tournament’s exit. Germany had suffered in Russia. sandwiching an unconvincing 2-1 win over Sweden between dismal defeats to Mexico and South Korea. In Qatar. they didn’t get out of the group again. losing their first game to Japan. drawing their second with Spain. and failing to beat Costa Rica by enough to advance on goal difference.
Their drop shows up in rankings too. Between January 2007 and July 2018, Germany were never lower than sixth, with long stretches in the top three. Since then, they have been no better than ninth.
The VAR moment hung over everything, because the match felt like it might have decided itself earlier. Tah’s header was controversially ruled out by referee Jalal Jayed after a VAR review. The decision also led to both coaches receiving yellow cards.
Paraguay’s goalkeeper Gill was briefly impeded by Waldemar Anton. but the contact wasn’t treated as decisive enough in real time. In a setting like this. players get in each other’s way all the time — yet the VAR call forced a review anyway. The goal, in this telling, should have been allowed to stand.
Penalties came after the fourth-biggest knockout shock by rankings since 1992, but the match also carried a quieter history for Paraguay. The goal that broke the game’s balance — Enciso’s opener — was the country’s first ever goal in the knockout stage of a World Cup. It came through a move that started with Miguel Almiron’s reverse pass. created the space. and ended with Enciso heading home the cross.
That moment nearly arrived too late for Paraguay’s own striker. Enciso had looked like he might miss the World Cup after a near-miss with injury. when Paraguay’s golden boy was carted off in their final warm-up friendly against Nicaragua with his hands over his face. The worry had been an anxiety-inducing hamstring injury. but fears of a tournament-ending problem proved misplaced. and he recovered in time.
Before Germany’s match, Paraguay’s tournament story was shaped by earlier discipline too. In first-half stoppage time against Turkey. Almiron became the first player to be shown a red card for breaching FIFA’s new rule outlawing the use of the hand or shirt to cover the mouth during a heated exchange. It was deemed unsporting behaviour rather than a severe offence like offensive language. so his penalty was a one-match ban. served in the final group game against Australia.
When Paraguay’s bench exploded after Enciso’s header, it carried the energy of a team that rarely gets to write history. Germany, for their part, left the pitch with questions already forming — not just about VAR, but about the choices that put them in reach of a match they didn’t control.
Julian Nagelsmann made boldest team selections of the tournament in the build-up. Musiala was replaced by Deniz Undav. Germany went to something like a 4-4-2. and they searched for more chance creation. Nagelsmann explained that he also wanted more protection when possession was turned over, and for stretches his team looked stable.
But the defending was still riddled with individual errors, and Paraguay’s goal was described as simple in construction. Nagelsmann needed another change. Leon Goretzka ultimately helped Germany draw level in normal time. and it was Florian Wirtz and Havertz who combined for the equaliser. with Havertz’s header the defining detail.
As the game moved toward its most exhausting version of itself, Germany looked like they reverted to their pre-tournament shape. Musiala replaced Undav, who did not take his chance, with Havertz returning to the pivot role in attack. Woltemade joined shortly before full-time.
By the time Tah’s disallowed header had already turned the match toward penalties, and the shootout began with Gill saving Havertz, the story was no longer about who had played better in the first half. It was about who survived the exact moments that decide World Cups.
Germany didn’t.
They left Gillette Stadium with a first-ever World Cup penalty shootout loss, a record 10 World Cup games in a row that they have conceded a goal, and a tournament-ending consequence that now feels not like an accident — but like the end of a longer slide they have been trying, for years, to stop.
Germany vs Paraguay World Cup penalties Julio Enciso Kai Havertz Orlando Gill Jonathan Tah disallowed header Jose Canale Jalal Jayed World Cup shock Germany eliminated