Germany 1-1 Paraguay (PAR win 4-3 on penalties)
Paraguay have only gone and done it! A history making victory over Germany, a side with more talent than they could count, a side whose path to the latter stages of the knockout tournament looked to be competitive but an opportunity for Julian Nagelsmann’s side to show what they were capable of, a side who will feel like they came up against a brick wall in Paraguay, a side who will have many regrets for maybe not throwing the kitchen sink at Paraguay before the South Americans scored first. But Germany’s 2026 World Cup journey stops here, and we have our first major upset. Will it be the first of many to come in the round of 32 or is this an anomaly? Perhaps a sign that soccer has become more competitive than ever before. A completely different debate. Paraguay advance to the next round and it hardly feels real typing those words. It hardly felt real when Paraguay took the lead in the 42nd minute after they had not even created any clear-cut opportunities, and even harder for those Paraguayan fans to believe they could beat the Germans when Kai Havertz equalized just ten minutes after the start of the second half.
This isn’t to take anything away from Paraguay and their resilience today, will they get criticised in the German media for the way in which they approached the game, in the way that Gustavo Alfaro set up his side to play every last of his men behind the ball? Inevitably. But Alfaro won’t care one bit. José Canale will become a cult hero in the heart of Paraguayan fans for years to come, for those children in the stand, hoping and praying that the penalty shootout would go their way, and it sure did. Paraguay has come
far, from suffering a severe defeat against the United States of America in their first group stage match, to beating Turkey 1-0 with 10 men for an entire half and drawing their final group stage match against Australia to just secure a best of third place finish to even play Germany. They will surely savour this moment. Their biggest win in their history. The team played with guts and heart today in Boston, and they played as a unit.
Paraguay had only ever gotten past one round of the knockout stages in their entire footballing history in 2010 when they too, beat Japan on penalties. History repeats itself, but this time, they do it against one of the biggest giants of the sport. This is the game that we love and respect, the players do it for the fans, their families, themselves, for their passion for the sport that they have too loved since they were just little, and in the end, this is what it has always been about. The World Cup. We just stop everything we do, watch and admire.