This was billed as a formality. Germany arrived having scored ten goals from seven different players across the group stage; Paraguay arrived having scored exactly once. The minnows didn't get the memo. A corner that Manuel Neuer could only punch clear fell to Omar Alonso, who found Miguel Almirón dragging two German defenders out of position on the right; the overlapping run of Alan Galarza supplied the cross, and Julio Enciso rose to head it home in the 41st minute. Gillette Stadium, expecting a coronation, got a genuine shock instead. 0-1 at the break.
Julian Nagelsmann's interval message was simple: get crosses into the box. Eight minutes after the restart, Florian Wirtz did exactly that, and Kai Havertz did what Kai Havertz does — glancing a header beyond José Gill to level it in the 54th minute. From there, Germany dominated the ball and the territory, but found José Canale standing like, in his manager Gustavo Alfaro's own description, "a brick wall." A second-half Ramón Caballero breakaway was flagged offside, sparing Paraguay further damage, and 90 minutes ended at 1-1 — the first match of this World Cup to require extra time.
Extra time produced almost nothing — except for the moment that will define this match for years. Twelve minutes in, Jonathan Tah rose to head home what looked like the winner, only for VAR to chalk it off: Waldemar Anton was ruled to have blocked off goalkeeper Gill in the buildup. Nagelsmann would later call the decision "a joke" in his press conference. The frustration boiled over moments later when Jamal Musiala went into a reckless tackle on Galarza and was booked; Galarza returned the favor with a foul of his own a minute later. 1-1 after 120 minutes, exactly as it stood at half-time of extra time.
Penalties decided it, and they did so dramatically: Havertz saved, Mauricio scored, Kimmich scored, Gómez scored, Musiala scored, Galarza scored, Woltemade saved, Sanabria put his wide, Amiri scored, Balbuena saved, Tah blasted his over the bar — and up stepped José Canale, deputizing in his first-ever World Cup start, to send Paraguay through 4-3 on penalties. Germany, ten goals and seven scorers deep into the group stage, are out of the World Cup in the Round of 32.
Julian Nagelsmann didn't dodge questions about what this elimination means, openly questioning his side's status among the world's elite in his post-match comments. Ten group-stage goals from seven scorers meant nothing against a defense built to absorb and a goalkeeper who refused to be beaten until the very end.
A first-ever World Cup start, 120 minutes of defending Gustavo Alfaro called wall-like, and then the winning penalty. There aren't many better ways to introduce yourself on the biggest stage in the sport.
Tah's disallowed extra-time header, and Nagelsmann's furious reaction to it, became the moment everyone is still talking about — even with a penalty shootout decided by a debutant waiting in the wings.
Paraguay advance to the Round of 16 — just their second-ever World Cup knockout win — and will face the winner of France vs. Sweden (Round of 32, June 30). Germany are eliminated; Julian Nagelsmann faced pointed questions in his press conference about whether this remains "a first-class team," and said he intended to stay on as coach despite the result.
Match 075 was the third fixture of a 16-match Round of 32 running through July 3. See the complete bracket for the other pairings.