Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade and Jonathan Ta missed crucial penalties as four-time winners Germany were eliminated from the World Cup in a penalty shootout by 34th-ranked Paraguay on Monday.
The Germans became the tournament’s first powerhouses to be eliminated in the round of 16 after a 1-1 draw led to a penalty shootout in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
Paraguay missed two penalty chances to send Germany home before Jose Canale scored suddenly.
Julio Enciso gave Paraguay a 1-0 lead in the 42nd minute, but Havertz equalized for Germany in the 54th minute. VAR disallowed Tah’s goal in extra time to frustrate the Germans.
“We had to analyze every player, every detail. Thanks to this, I was able to miss only two penalties,” Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill said later. “This is for all the people of Paraguay.”
Paraguay beat Germany on penalties at the World Cup. Getty
Canale said: “I think we deserved another game and, frankly, with everything that’s been said, everything we’ve been through. What I want to highlight about our team is how united we are. … Today was a game where we really needed to show our true colors.”
Germany have won six of seven penalty shootouts at major tournaments, including six in a row after losing to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final. Until Monday, Germany had never lost a penalty shootout at the World Cup.
In the only previous World Cup match between the teams, Germany beat Paraguay 1-0 in the round of 16 of the 2002 tournament. Almost a quarter of a century later, Paraguay got its revenge.
Paraguay had appeared in five previous knockout games but failed to score in any of them. They have advanced only once on previous occasions, winning on penalties against Japan in the round of 16 of the 2010 tournament in South Africa. That same year, Paraguay lost to eventual champions Spain in the quarter-finals.
Monday was Germany’s first knockout game since the final in Brazil in 2014, when the Germans beat Argentina 1-0 to claim their fourth world title. The Germans were eliminated from the group stage at the last two World Cup tournaments.
“We had very big plans for this World Cup. It’s very difficult to be disappointed again,” Havertz said. “It was difficult to create chances and keep the pace.”
Paraguay took the lead three minutes before the break with play in progress when Miguel Almiron sent the ball into the area and Enciso headed Manuel Neuer past.
In the first half, the Germans had 78% of the ball, but after Enciso’s goal they had to lick their wounds.
Paraguay staged a shocking match against Germany. Getty
But it only took Germany the 54th minute to equalize through Havertz. Florian Wirtz’s dangerous cross at the near post was cleverly headed home by Havertz to calm Germany’s nerves, but they were unable to score the winning goal until the penalty spot.
Germany piled on the pressure in extra time and Tah thought he had scored with a header until VAR spotted a foul on Waldemar Anton, who blocked Gill.
– World Cup VAR review: Germany wrongly denied a goal against Paraguay
Gill parried Havertz’s header with his outstretched arm. Gill saved Anton from a point-blank corner in the 119th minute.
Germany were on the verge of elimination when Havertz and Woltemade missed penalties in the shootout. But Antonio Sanabria’s miss, Neuer parrying Fabian Balbuena’s shot, opened the door again.
However, Tah fired the penalty over the crossbar and Canale scored the winning goal to seal the stunning victory.
Paraguay will next face the winner of Tuesday’s match between France and Sweden on Saturday in the round of 16 in Philadelphia.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.