Paraguay shocks Germany on penalty kicks to bounce the 4-time World Cup champions out of the tournament

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN

(CNN) — Paraguay has shocked Germany, bouncing the four-time world champions out of the World Cup on penalty kicks in the upset of the tournament so far.

The match was the first of the Round of 32 games to go to penalty kicks, the ultimate drama in World Cup knockout play. The game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes, with Paraguay advancing 4-3 on penalties.

It’s the first time the Germans have ever lost in the World Cup on penalties.

The match started with Paraguay producing the opening opportunity in the first minute before the Germans came into the game and began dominating proceedings, though not really doing much in the attacking end.

The Paraguayans instead made their only other opportunity of the half count. Julio Enciso’s headed goal from the penalty spot flew past Manuel Neuer into the German net, taking advantage of some shambolic defending that left the Strasbourg midfielder unmarked in the middle of the penalty area.

The Paraguayans took the unexpected lead into halftime with the four-time World Cup winners, who were making their first appearance in the knockout rounds since winning the tournament in 2014.

The Germans dominated the match after the break but struggled to break down Paraguay’s defense as the South Americans once again assumed the compact defending that had flustered Turkey and Australia in the opening group stage.

Eventually, the equalizer did materialize out of relatively nothing.

A Florian Wirtz cross was whipped into the box as many other German passes had been to start the half, but this time Kai Havertz rose above Paraguay’s defense to nod the ball in. It was a slight touch, but it was enough to find the back of the net and even things up at 1-1.

After the second hydration break, Havertz had another chance with a header in the 78th minute, but it went right at keeper Orlando Gill, who was able to bat it away with both hands. The Germans continued to dominate proceedings, seeking a late winning goal with 30 minutes of extra time looming in the waning sun of the Foxborough, Massachusetts, evening.

The teams traded corner kicks in second-half stoppage time, but neither could muster a true scoring chance, and the game went into the first extra time portion of the tournament, needing another 30 minutes to settle it.

The Germans began putting pressure on Paraguay from the start of the extra period, including a possible penalty when Nick Woltemade’s shot was blocked by Gustavo Gómez, appearing to hit his arm. That moment only resulted in a corner kick, which Germany couldn’t convert.

The deadlock appeared to be broken in the 102nd minute when Jonathan Tah soared above the defense on yet another corner kick, powering his header past Gill to make it 2-1. After Germany celebrated, referee Jalal Jayed signaled for video review after the video assistant referee (VAR) flagged possible foul on Gill as the corner was in the air. Jayed ruled that Waldermar Anton collided with the keeper while the ball was airborne, disallowing the goal for a foul.

Tah’s apparent goal was overturned and the game went back to 1-1, where it would remain until the extra time break.

Both teams kept going for the breakthrough, neither really seeming to be willing to settle for the crapshoot of penalty kicks. The Germans thought they had the winning moment when Anton rose above the defense for a header in the 118th minute, but it went straight at Gill who collected easily.

A foul by Matías Galarza as the clock ticked toward the end of extra time allowed Germany a free kick in a dangerous position, but the free kick from Nadiem Amiri hit the side netting – sending the match to penalties.

Havertz missed the first penalty as Gill made a diving stop. Paraguay’s Maurício then buried his penalty past Neuer to give his nation the early advantage.

Germany’s Joshua Kimmich answered with a goal of his own with Gómez converting the next attempt for Paraguay. Jamal Musiala then scored for Germany and Galarza converted next for Paraguay. Woltemade came next and his attempt, low and to the right, was saved by Gil, putting Paraguay on the verge of a win.

Paraguay’s Antonio Sanabria walked up to the spot with a chance to win the match and sent it far wide of the net, giving Germany hope. Amiri came up next, needing to score to keep his team alive and simply buried it in the bottom right corner.

That put all the pressure on Fabían Balbuena, who came on as a sub at the end of extra time. His shot was saved by a diving Neuer, knotting the PKs at three apiece, giving Germany extra life and dragging the shootout on into sudden death.

Next up was Tah, who sent his spot kick flying over the bar, giving Paraguay yet another chance to win the match. José Canale walked up to the spot and buried it to send one of the sport’s blue bloods packing.

Paraguayans in the stands at Boston Stadium were crying tears of joy as Germans placed their hands on their heads in disbelief.

Brazil defeats Japan in the final minute

Brazil is through to the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 after a last-minute goal broke Japanese hearts in Houston in the first game of the day.

It took until the dying minutes of the game for the five-time world champions to finally pull ahead of the Samurai Blue, using a goal from Gabriel Martinelli to finally push past the Japanese 2-1.

The initial shock of the match came in the 29th minute when Kaishu Sano opened the scoring for Japan, sending a shot from outside the box. The low strike skirted past a diving Alisson, placed perfectly in the bottom left corner just inside the post.

It was the first goal that Brazil had allowed since Morocco scored first against the Seleção in the opening group match of the tournament.

The Japanese took the lead into halftime, and the Brazilians began to turn up the heat on the other side of the break, starting with a 52nd minute header from Bruno Guimarãres that forced a great save from keeper Zion Suzuki. The Japanese defense was in chaos minutes later as a header from Casemiro hit Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu in the face on the goal line, bouncing back to Suzuki and into another goal-line clearance.

Casemiro got his goal in the 56th minute off a headed ball off a cross from Gabriel Magalhães, finally getting the Brazilians on the board.

Vinicius Junior nearly scored the goal of the tournament just two minutes later as he dribbled through the Japanese defense, toe-poking the ball toward the net. Suzuki just got a hand on it, forcing it onto the post.

Over the next 30 minutes, the game settled in as Japan defended admirably while Brazil looked for a winner.

The moment finally came in the final minute of the match as a Japan giveaway on the edge of the box was quickly converted by Martinelli. The Arsenal striker took a through ball from Guimarães and fired a shot across goal. Suzuki got a fingertip on the ball but it wasn’t enough as the ball bounced in off the post.

Brazil will face the winner of Ivory Coast-Norway in the Round of 16 at 4 p.m. ET on July 5 in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Ivory Coast and Norway play their Round of 32 match on Tuesday afternoon near Dallas.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.