Foxborough: Jose Canale scored on the first sudden-death penalty kick, Orlando Gill made two key saves in the shootout, and Paraguay beat Germany 4-3 on penalties Monday to earn the biggest upset of the 2026 World Cup so far.
The round of 32 match ended 1-1 after extra time. Paraguay took the lead when Julio Enciso scored on a header late in the first half, but Kai Havertz equalised in the 52nd minute for four-time champion Germany.
“We had to analyse every player, every detail. Thanks to that, I was able to only miss two penalties,” Gill said afterwards. “This is for all the people of Paraguay.”
Paraguay, ranked 34th by FIFA, is the deepest betting long shot to win a World Cup match and did it against 12th-ranked Germany.
The Paraguayans will next face the winner of Tuesday’s match between France and Sweden in the round of 16 on Saturday in Philadelphia. A win in that match would land them back in Foxborough for a quarterfinal match on July 9.
“I think we deserved one more game and to be honest considering everything that was said, everything we went through,” Canale said. “What I wan to highlight from our team is how united we are. … Today was a game we really needed to show our true colors.”
Germany had won six of seven penalty shootouts in major tournaments, including six straight since losing to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final.
In the only previous World Cup match between the teams, Germany beat Paraguay 1-0 in the round of 16 at the 2002 tournament. Nearly a quarter-century later, Paraguay has its revenge.
Paraguay had appeared in five previous knockout games but failed to score in each. It advanced only once in those previous occasions, winning on penalty kicks against Japan in the round of 16 at the 2010 tournament in South Africa. It fell that year to eventual champion Spain in the quarterfinals.
Monday was Germany’s first knockout game since the 2014 final in Brazil when the Germans beat Argentina 1-0 to capture their fourth World Cup title. The Germans were eliminated from the group stage at the last two World Cup tournaments.
“We had very big plans for this World Cup. It’s very difficult to disappoint again,” Havertz said. “It was difficult to create chances and keep the pace.”
Paraguay broke the early stalemate in the 42nd minute Monday with some perfect ball movement to setup Enciso.
Miguel Almiron split Germany’s Aleksandar Pavlovic and Nathaniel Brown with a left-footed pass to Matias Galarza. Galarza sent a cross to Enciso, who was unmarked by Germany’s defenders and easily headed it past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
In the second half, Havertz took a cross from Florian Wirtz, which he got just enough head on to redirect it past Gill.
And then in extra time, Germany appeared to take a 2-1 lead in the 102nd minute when Jonathan Tah headed in a corner kick by Nathaniel Brown that was just above the reach of Gill. But a video review ruled that Waldemar Anton has pushed Gill to the ground before the shot and the goal was disallowed.
Germany, whose 10 goals in the group stage was tied for the most of any team, struggled to find a way through Paraguay’s 4-5-1 setup. The Germans had 78% of the possession in the first half.
As expected, Paraguay was without defender Omar Alderete, who left with an injury in the second half of the team’s 0-0 draw against Australia. Canale started in his place.
