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Paraguay was the protagonist of one of the biggest surprises of the 2026 World Cup by eliminating Germany in the round of 32 held this Monday at the Gillette Stadium in Boston, resulting in a score of 1-1 after 120 minutes and a victory of 4-3 in the penalty shootout.
The reflect a contest where Germany dominated significantly —75% possession, 21 shots to Paraguay's seven, and 16 corners to six— but the Albirroja was more effective when it mattered the most.
Julio Enciso opened the scoring in the 42nd minute with a header following a cross from Matías Galarza from the right, in a play that also involved Miguel Almirón.
Germany took just 12 minutes to respond: at the 54th minute, Kai Havertz equalized with a header, taking advantage of a precise cross from Florian Wirtz to make it 1-1, which would hold until the end.
In extra time, the VAR ruled out a goal by Jonathan Tah in the 102nd minute for a prior foul, denying the Germans what would have been the goal to advance to the Round of 16.
The tension moved to the penalty shootout, where Germany paid dearly for their lack of precision: Havertz missed the first shot and Woltemade also squandered his.
For Paraguay, only Antonio Sanabria missed his shot, while Mauricio, Gustavo Gómez, and Galarza converted confidently to finalize the score at 4-3.
Kimmich and Musiala scored for Germany, but it wasn't enough to reverse the elimination.
The match also left a high voltage on the benches: coaches Gustavo Alfaro (Paraguay) and Julian Nagelsmann (Germany) received yellow cards in the 105th minute, while Havertz and Musiala also received cards in the final stretch.
With this result, Paraguay advances to the round of 16 for the first time since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, when the Albirroja reached the quarterfinals.
The Guarani team had qualified for this round as the best third-place team in Group D with four points, while Germany arrived as the leader of Group E with six points, despite an inconsistent performance in the group stage.
Paraguay will await the winner of the match between France and Sweden in the round of 16, while Germany exits the tournament in the first knockout round.
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