Paraguay kept taking the game to its thinnest edge until Germany finally fell off it.
After 120 minutes of pressure, headers, saves and one disallowed German winner, Paraguay beat Germany 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw to reach the World Cup quarterfinals. José Canale struck the decisive kick, Orlando Gill saved twice in the shootout, and a German side that had spent most of the night in Paraguay’s half walked off with another tournament bruise.
Germany had 75.3 percent possession, 799 passes, 21 shots and 16 corners. Paraguay had seven shots, 257 passes and long stretches with little more than its defensive shape, Gill’s gloves and the belief that one more German cross could be survived. It was a different kind of knockout upset from Brazil’s late escape against Japan, but it carried the same warning: control without separation can collapse quickly in this format.
Paraguay’s breakthrough came in the 42nd minute, and it fit the game’s eventual shape. Matías Galarza delivered from a corner routine, Julio Enciso found space in the center of the box, and his header beat Manuel Neuer into the bottom-left corner. Germany had already been nudging the match toward a territorial siege, but that goal forced Julian Nagelsmann’s side to chase with more urgency after halftime.
Gill turns Germany’s pressure into Paraguay’s night
Kai Havertz pulled Germany level in the 54th minute, redirecting Florian Wirtz’s cross into the bottom-right corner. It was the kind of sequence Germany had been hunting all night: clean service, a central runner and a finish before Paraguay could reset. Havertz had Germany back in the match, and Wirtz’s delivery kept asking the same question from different angles.
But the equalizer didn’t turn into the release Germany needed. Havertz had another header saved in the 78th minute. Leon Goretzka missed wide from a Wirtz corner in the 86th. Jonathan Tah forced Gill down to his left in stoppage time. In extra time, Tah thought he had scored, only for VAR to take the goal away after a foul on Gill, and Havertz later saw another close-range header pushed aside.
That was the thread Paraguay kept pulling: Germany could have the ball, the crosses and the territory, but it still had to beat Gill cleanly. Paraguay cleared 54 times and made 13 interceptions, numbers that read less like a plan for elegance than a record of survival. Gustavo Gómez and Júnior Alonso absorbed wave after wave. Mauricio, forced on after Enciso’s injury, gave Paraguay a running outlet and then scored the first penalty of the shootout.
The shootout turned Germany’s frustration into the final scoreline. Gill saved Havertz’s opening attempt. Joshua Kimmich and Jamal Musiala converted, but Gill denied Nick Woltemade to keep Paraguay ahead. Antonio Sanabria and Fabián Balbuena failed to finish it for Paraguay, which gave Germany one more way back, but Jonathan Tah sent his attempt over the bar. Canale then delivered the kick Paraguay needed.
For Germany, it was a jarring exit after a group stage that had already carried warning signs, including the loss to Ecuador and the late work required in the Ivory Coast match. This time, there was no Undav rescue, no final surge and no escape route through dominance. Germany had enough of the game to win it several times. Paraguay had enough nerve to make sure it didn’t.
Paraguay moves on because it stayed alive in the margins: one Enciso header, one Gill save after another, and one final Canale penalty. Germany exits because the margins eventually answered back.
