The Sports Guru
Germany used to win penalty shootouts in their sleep. Now they have lost one at a World Cup for the first time, and with it gone is any pretence that this is a passing slump. This piece looks at the night Paraguay knocked them out in the round of 32, and at Julian Nagelsmann, a manager insisting he is the right man to fix a problem that has now outlasted three tournaments.
There are upsets, and then there is Germany losing a World Cup penalty shootout, which until this week had never happened. Paraguay beat them 4-3 from the spot at Boston Stadium in Foxborough after a 1-1 draw across 120 minutes, and a nation that built its reputation on getting these nights right got this one comprehensively wrong. Germany are out in the round of 32, their earliest meaningful exit in a sequence of early exits, and Julian Nagelsmann is left to explain how the four-time champions keep arriving at tournaments and leaving them almost immediately.
He did not hide from it afterwards, which is to his credit, but the words were striking. Germany, Nagelsmann admitted, are "not part of the first-class teams any more." It is the kind of sentence a German manager is not supposed to say out loud, and the fact that he did tells you how far the gap between reputation and reality has stretched.
A Game Germany Could Not Win in 120 Minutes
Paraguay led at the break through Julio Enciso, who met a cross with a header on 42 minutes and gave his side something to defend, which they did with the discipline and bloody-mindedness of a team entirely comfortable being underdogs. Germany huffed, as they have all tournament, and eventually found a way level when Kai Havertz headed in during the second half. It was the equaliser their possession deserved, but it flattered to suggest a winner was coming.
The closest they came arrived in extra time, when Jonathan Tah thought he had won it, only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR. There is a cruelty in a disallowed extra-time winner, the celebration killed mid-air, and it would not be the last time Tah's name attached itself to the wrong moment. Paraguay saw out the 120 minutes, and the game went to the place Germany have historically feared least and now have most reason to dread.
The Shootout That Broke a German Myth
For decades the penalty shootout was Germany's safe harbour, the moment opponents blinked and they did not. That myth ended in Foxborough. Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill saved from Havertz and from Nick Woltemade, and when Tah skied his attempt high over the bar, the door was open. Jose Canale stepped up in sudden death and shut it, calmly converting the kick that sent Paraguay through and Germany home. The first shootout defeat in their World Cup history could hardly have been scripted more painfully: two saves, a miss ballooned into the stands, and a Paraguayan party.
It is the sort of result that reframes everything around it. Paraguay, organised and fearless, have a famous night to keep forever. Germany have a statistic that will follow this group for years, and a manager who must now sell the idea that better times are close while the evidence points the other way.
Three Exits, One Pattern
This is where the pressure on Nagelsmann becomes real rather than rhetorical. Germany went out in the group stage in 2018 and again in 2022, and now they have gone out in the round of 32 in 2026. Three tournaments, three early departures, and a slow erosion of the aura that once made them favourites by default. The talent on paper remains considerable, with players who light up the Bundesliga and the Champions League, but a squad that hammered Curacao 7-1 in the group stage could not break down a disciplined Paraguay over two hours.
That contrast is the whole problem. Germany can look irresistible against opponents who come to attack and utterly stuck against those who come to defend. They were reliant on impact from the bench all tournament, from the likes of Deniz Undav, precisely because the first eleven kept failing to find the killer pass when the space was tight. Against the best defensive sides, the margins are exactly this fine, and Germany have now been on the wrong side of them three tournaments running.
Nagelsmann Digs In
The obvious question after a result like this is whether the manager survives it, and Nagelsmann answered it himself before anyone could ask twice. He will not, in his words, "run away," and he intends to stay "if the DFB wants me." Having taken charge in 2023 on a contract that runs until after the 2028 European Championship, which Germany will host, he clearly sees this exit as a setback in a longer project rather than the end of one.
"I still believe we can play much better football than we showed here," he said. "I believe this team has a future, and if the association believes I'm the right coach to lead it, I'll do everything I can to make Germany successful again." It is a defiant message, and a reasonable one from a coach with a home Euros to build towards. Whether the German federation, and a public that has now watched three straight failures, shares his patience is the question that will define the next few weeks. Nagelsmann has made his stance clear. The decision, as he acknowledged, is not entirely his to make.
Verdict: A Reckoning Germany Can No Longer Postpone
Losing to Paraguay is no disgrace in isolation, because this Paraguay side earned every inch of their win. The disgrace, if there is one, is in the pattern: a football superpower that cannot get out of the first knockout round, undone again by a lack of cutting edge against organised opposition. Nagelsmann is right that the talent exists and right that 2028 offers a target worth staying for. But he is also right, and unusually honest, that Germany are no longer first-class, and a country used to setting the standard now has to earn its way back to it. The shootout myth is gone. The hard rebuilding, whoever leads it, starts now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Germany lost to Paraguay 4-3 on penalties in the round of 32 after the game finished 1-1 over 120 minutes. Julio Enciso headed Paraguay ahead on 42 minutes, Kai Havertz equalised in the second half, and Jonathan Tah had an extra-time goal ruled out by VAR. In the shootout, Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill saved two kicks and Jose Canale converted the decisive penalty in sudden death.
It was the first time in World Cup history that Germany have lost a penalty shootout, ending one of the sport's most famous records. It also marked a third successive early tournament exit, following group-stage eliminations in 2018 and 2022. For a four-time world champion, going out in the round of 32 to Paraguay represents one of the lowest points in the national team's modern history.
No. Nagelsmann has ruled out resigning, saying he will not "run away" and intends to continue "if the DFB wants me." He took charge in 2023 and has a contract until after the 2028 European Championship, which Germany will host. He acknowledged that some supporters want him to go, but insisted he remains the right man to rebuild the team and lead it back toward success.
Nagelsmann was strikingly candid, admitting that after three straight early exits Germany are "not part of the first-class teams any more." He added, "I still believe we can play much better football than we showed here. I believe this team has a future, and if the association believes I'm the right coach to lead it, I'll do everything I can to make Germany successful again." It was an unusually honest assessment from a German coach.
Germany struggled to break down organised, defensive opponents. They could overwhelm sides that attacked them, as in a 7-1 win over Curacao, but lacked a cutting edge when space was tight, relying heavily on substitutes for impact. Against a disciplined Paraguay they could not find a winner in 120 minutes, and the same problem that ended their previous campaigns, a lack of incision against deep defences, undid them once more.
Sources: Germany's round-of-32 exit, the 1-1 scoreline, Julio Enciso's opener, Kai Havertz's equaliser, Jonathan Tah's disallowed extra-time goal, the penalty shootout detail (Orlando Gill's saves, Tah's miss and Jose Canale's winning kick), the first-shootout-defeat record, Germany's run of early exits and Julian Nagelsmann's post-match comments on his future and his contract to 2028, as reported in BBC Sport's coverage of Germany's World Cup exit and cross-checked across match reports and reaction from Al Jazeera, ESPN and Goal.
