Key events
16 min. Paraguay lost to the USA in the opening match, but they are generally strong defensively – they conceded 10 goals in 18 qualifying games – so it will never be easy for Germany. They explore tirelessly, without much joy yet.
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Updated at 4:48 pm ET.
13 min. Germany begins to control possessions. But they could have some injury problems as Nick Woltemade appears to be heading into action.
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11 minutes “Right now I’m trying to unsee and unhear that Village People video and the very awkward 1994 Germany team,” says Peter Och. “On the other hand, if the South Americans score, I will definitely burst out in chorus: “Paraguay-MCA!!!”
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Updated at 4:45 pm ET.
8 min The ensuing corner was headed towards Wirtz, who fired over the crossbar from 22 yards.
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7 min Wirtz cuts in from the left and crosses for Havertz, who is poised to score before the stretching Canale makes a vital interception.
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6 min A loose ball in the Paraguayan area, Havertz passes the ball to Undav, who flies wide and wide of the goal.
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5 minutes Gustavo Gomez needs treatment after an awkward fall. He’s limping a little, but he looks fine.
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2nd minute: chance for Paraguay The corner found its way to an unmarked Julio Alonso at the far post. His first touch was clumsy – I think he saw the ball late – but he got a scissor kick which was saved by Neuer.
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Updated at 4:35 pm ET.
1 min. Peep-peep! As we watched, Paraguay launched an attack from left to right, and 20 seconds later Julio Enciso struck with a hopeful shot, but the ball was deflected for a corner.
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“Hello Rob! writes James Humphreys. “It’s unclear to me whether this happens, from a reporting standpoint, after the Lord Mayor’s show or before it; still, who would you annoy to get this? (Probably don’t answer that question.) Come on… Paraguay, I think? God, it’s hard to shake a leg over that.”
Oh, I was glad Tim got first choice. Mainly because I owe my career to him, but also because it meant I could watch Richard Osman’s House of Games.
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The players come out on a hot day at Boston Stadium. Thank goodness for these humane hydration breaks.
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Today’s winners will face France or Sweden, who meet tomorrow.
ShareJonathan Wilson
Match report: Brazil – Japan 2:1.
Not for the first time, there have been long periods in this tournament where Brazil have been underwhelming. And this is not the first time in this tournament that they got away with it. It may be inexplicable, but Carlo Ancelotti’s method at Real Madrid is working again: stay in the game and eventually either the opposition will make a mistake or brilliant players will do something brilliant.
Brazil were 1-0 down at half-time and were struggling. Their earliest exit from the World Cup seemed entirely possible. Five of Brazil’s starting XIs were over 30, five of their top six defenders – and they looked the part. The Japanese were faster, more agile, more insightful and more inventive. But the appearance of Endrick, as well as a change in form and approach during the break, changed everything. Brazil began to throw the ball into the penalty area, and Japan staggered. Casemiro, who had been barely pedestrian in the first half, equalized with a header and Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner in stoppage time.
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“Good evening, Rob.” – says Krishnamurti V. “What is better for Germany? Lose today and blame the officials or the field / VAR for it. Or win today and be rewarded with a tank with a Rolls Royce engine, aka Mbappe?”
I think they mean the third option.
West Germany celebrates the great Andy Brehme’s winning penalty against Argentina in the Italia 90 final. Photo: Carlo Fumagalli/APShare
“Anyone who was around in 2002 I will remember the Germany-Paraguay match that year as possibly the worst match of the tournament, says Peter Goldstein. – I think this match will be better, if only because this time Germany will have more good strikers at its disposal. But I will be very surprised if Paraguay adds excitement to the match.”
To be honest, the winning goal was wonderful, and not just because it saved us all from extra time.
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“I’m extremely disappointed” – begins Keira Healy, and this time this hackneyed phrase is justified: “We played four games with Germany without mentioning the best moment of Die Mannschaft at the last World Cup on US soil.
“The tradition of forcing musicians to do awkward background vocals on crappy songs really needs to be revived.”
After winning Euro 96 they looked much more comfortable performing the Three Lions.
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Ian Sargent writes in
double quotesGreetings from Turkey Rob. Just relaxing with cocktails after dinner. My 25% German son looks great in his German shirt, which I’m sure makes his much-missed grandma proud. Paraguay 1986? Alvin Martin’s only start of the campaign. If he had played the next game instead of Terry Fenwick, would Stretch have been able to get close enough to Maradona to stop Diego’s second? Trying to stop Alan Devonshire from the club’s daily training sessions would be useful…
I love Royal Tenenbaums’ description of your son. (Please take this in the spirit in which it was intended.)
And no, Stretch wouldn’t have gone any closer – but he might not have received a yellow card for unnecessary violence, which would have given him the opportunity to destroy Maradona and stop the second goal.
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Today’s game has a tragic background: Six people were killed at a youth institution in Stade, Germany. Besides sympathy that doesn’t need to be expressed, it’s hard to think of anything else to say.
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Updated at 3:33 pm ET.
Team news
Denise UndavHaving scored three goals at this World Cup thanks to the Chloe Kelly paradox, she takes the lead for the first time. With Jamal Musiala out, Kai Havertz is likely to play at number 10.
Miguel Almiron returns to the Paraguayan team after suspension and Gabriel Avalos starts from the front.
Germany (possibly 4-2-3-1) Neuer; Kimmich, Tach, Rüdiger, Brown; Pavlovich, Nmecha; Who, Havertz, Wirtz; Undav.
Subs: Baumann, Nubel, Anton, Goretzka, Leveling, Musiala, Woltemade, Gross, Bayer, Stiller, Amiri, Raum, Thiau, Ouedraogo.
Paraguay (possibly 4-5-1) Jill; Caceres, Gomez, Canale, Alonso; Almiron, Cubas, Bobadilla, Galarza; Avalos.
Subs: Fernandez, Olveira, Velasquez, Alderete, Balbuena, Sosa, Sanabria, Mauricio, Romero, Arce, Ojeda, Caballero, Pitta, Maidana.
Referee Jayal Jaed (Morocco)
Gabriel AvalosShare
Updated at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The Chloe Kelly Paradox – one of the features of the current World Cup. Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli, one of the best substitute players in the world, has just scored the winner in stoppage time in Brazil’s match against Japan.
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Updated 2/15 ET.
Paraguay have not scored a goal in five World Cup knockout matches. Statistics never lie, but they can be economical with the truth, and Paraguay have given some very good teams trouble.
Eventual winners France needed the first World Cup golden goal to defeat them in 1998; The German finalists needed a great late winner in the unsung Oliver Neuville in 2002.
In 2010, beating Japan on penalties after a 0-0 draw gave Spain a huge scare. Even in 1986, when they lost badly to good old England, they had a chance to take the lead.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to the live streaming of 4369 Days Later, scene by scene. That’s how long it has been since Germany’s last World Cup knockout game, a scenario none of us could have foreseen when Mario Gotze scored the winning goal against Argentina in the 2014 final.
Paraguay waited even longer before getting back into this do-or-die sedan, but they’re not Germany, so it doesn’t really matter. They are the half-forgotten quarter-finalists of 2010, when they gave eventual winners Spain a scare before losing 1-0. Oscar Cardozo saved a penalty in the second half with the score 0-0.
Germany are strong favorites today, but their 12-year absence from the knockout stages tells us that the old confidence about Germany and the World Cup no longer applies. The reward for the winners is uncertain: France or Sweden in the last 16.
Kick off 4:30 pm ET/9:30 pm PT/6:30 pm ET
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