Paraguay produced one of the biggest upsets in FIFA World Cup history after eliminating four-time champions Germany 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in their Round of 32 clash on Tuesday.
The remarkable victory saw world No. 41 Paraguay knock out the 10th-ranked Germans, ending their campaign in dramatic fashion and delivering one of the tournament’s most memorable shock results.
Paraguay struck first just before half-time when Julio Enciso found the back of the net in the 42nd minute to hand his side a surprise lead.
Germany responded shortly after the restart, with Kai Havertz levelling the score eight minutes into the second half to set up a tense finish.
The Germans believed they had found the winning goal from a corner late in the match, but the effort was ruled out following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, which detected a foul on Paraguay’s goalkeeper during the build-up.
Neither side could find another breakthrough in normal time or extra time, sending the contest to a penalty shootout.
Germany endured a nightmare from the spot as Havertz missed the opening penalty, while two more German attempts also failed to find the target. Paraguay converted enough of their kicks to secure a 4-3 shootout victory despite missing two penalties themselves.
The defeat marked Germany’s first-ever loss in a World Cup penalty shootout, ending a record that had stood throughout the nation’s history in the competition.
It also continued the decline of the European giants, who have struggled to make a deep run in the knockout stages since lifting the World Cup trophy in 2014.
Paraguay’s historic triumph is already being hailed as one of the greatest World Cup shocks, with many viewing it as an even bigger upset than Bulgaria’s famous victory over defending champions Germany in the quarter-finals of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States.
