The first major shock of the 2026 World Cup officially materialized as four-time champion Germany was eliminated in the round of 32 after a penalty shootout against a tenacious Paraguay. Germany dominated possession from the start, but it was Paraguay who crafted the most dangerous actions in the opening 45 minutes, breaking the deadlock with a nice action that Julio Enciso finalized with a header to stun the crowd at Gillette Stadium. Julian Nagelsmann’s side was largely lackluster in the final third but managed to even the scoring when Florian Wirtz floated a perfect cross that Kai Havertz’s cleverly flicked into the bottom corner to give Germany life 54 minutes in. Still, Germany continued to look incapable of finding a way through Paraguay’s compact defensive block, and the game remained level at one heading into the first extra-time of the 2026 World Cup. Jonathan Tah thought he scored the winner for Germany, but the goal was disallowed for a controversial Waldemar Anton foul on Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill. Die Mannschaft lacked the clarity to create a winning moment, and the clash headed to a penalty-shootout. Germany was on the brink early after Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade missed from the spot, but managed to even the shootout after Paraguay missed its final two kicks. Then, Jonathan Tah became the villain, sending his penalty kick over the crossbar. José Canale stepped-up for Paraguay and sent Germany home in its first-ever penalty shootout elimination in World Cup history. Failing to make it past the round of 32 is nothing but a colossal failure for Nagelsmann’s side. Germany will have to wait another four years to secure its first-ever knockout win since lifting the trophy in the 2014 final. Compete against the world. | SPORTS ILLUSTRATEDOne Thing We Can’t IgnoreDeniz Undav barely had a sniff of the ball. | Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar/Getty ImagesThe 2026 World Cup has been defined by some of the top teams in the tournament struggling to break down compact low-blocks. Spain, Portugal and England all dropped points because of their inability to bypass low-block, and on Monday at Gillette Stadium, it was Germany’s turn to suffer. From the moment the starting whistle blew, Paraguay had no interest in competing for control of the game through possession, clearly having learned from its mistake that led to a humbling 4–1 defeat against the USMNT. Germany dominated the ball, but its possession’s always went sideways at an incredibly slow pace, allowing Paraguay to keep its compact 4-4-2 defensive shape comfortably. Leroy Sané was the only German attacker that tried to stretch the backline with deep runs, with the rest of the forwards preferring to drop down to get the ball at their feet only to turn around, realize there was nobody moving into pockets of space, and settling for another sideways or backwards pass. Nagelsmann’s side dominated 80% of possession in the first half, yet it failed to register a single shot on goal and went trailing into the break, with Paraguay creating two clear chances from set-pieces, including the one that led to Enciso’s opener. Outside of floating cross after cross—which did lead to the equalizer—Germany looked out of sorts offensively, devoid of ideas in the final third. In the end, Germany’s slow, unimaginative, toothless attack led to its demise, adding yet another painful chapter to its modern World Cup history. Germany Player Ratings vs. Paraguay (4-2-3-1)Kai Havertz has five goals in his last five World Cup appearances. | Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty Images*Ratings provided by FotMob*GK: Manuel Neuer—7.1: Rarely tested but failed to inspire any confidence whenever he was. Nothing he could do to avoid becoming only the second goalkeeper in World Cup history to go 10 straight games without keeping a clean sheet. Nearly became the hero in the penalty shootout, though. RB: Joshua Kimmich—7.9: Did well to help Germany recover possession high up the pitch, but the fact that he had the most touches in the game highlights Germany’s struggles to bypass a sturdy low-block.CB: Jonathan Tah—7.4: With little to do defensively, Tah spent much of the game simply passing sideways as Germany looked to bypass a sturdy defensive block. He was a stone-wall in the second half, and he’ll be disappointed his extra-time winner was waved-off because of a soft foul. His decisive kick from the spot landed in New Hampshire and condemned his side. CB: Antonio Rüdiger—7.8: Dominated in the air and looked comfortable imposing his physicality against Paraguay’s smaller forwards. Tidy in possession. LB: Nathaniel Brown—7.5: Erratic in his deliveries whenever he ventured forward and failed to track the Matías Galarza’s run which allowed him to pick out Enciso for Paraguay's strike. CM: Felix Nmecha—6.3: Threaded some nice passes between the lines but he’s to blame for leaving Enciso completely unmarked as he entered the penalty area to head home Paraguay’s opener. Was hooked at half time after a lackluster cameo.CM: Aleksandar Pavlović—6.5: Whenever he tried to be audacious in his passing, he was erratic. Participated constantly in build-up but without making any notable contributions. RW: Leroy Sané—6.3: To his credit, he was the only German attacker that was seemingly interested in making runs behind the backline. Still, he didn’t complete a single cross or a successful dribble.AM: Kai Havertz—7.8: Spent long stretches without coming in contact with the ball, and he was far from the dangerous areas seemingly every time he did. Still, the Arsenal forward once again appeared on the big occasion with a brilliant flick to bring Germany level soon after the restart. Dreadful penalty to start the shootout. LW: Florian Wirtz—7.4: Isolated on the wing, Wirtz routinely had two markers on him whenever he received the ball, mostly nullifying his influence. When he finally had some space to operate, he whipped a perfect cross for Havertz’s equalizer. Was Germany’s best player after the restart. ST: Deniz Undav—6.0: The super-sub during the group stage was nowhere to be found in his first tournament start. Had just nine touches by the hour-mark, that about says it all. SUB: Leon Goretzka (46’ for Nmecha)—6.2: Introduced simply as another aerial presence to try to score from a cross. SUB: Jamal Musiala (63’ for Undav)—6.7: Had a few nice moves where he got away from his man and whipped in a cross, but his deliveries never resulted in the desired outcome. SUB: Waldemar Anton (79’ for Pavlović)—6.5: His introduction allowed Kimmich to move to midfield. Solid defensively. SUB: Nick Woltemade (88’ for Sané)—6.5: Another target man Germany unsuccessfully looked to feed aerially. Succumbed under pressure from the spot.SUB: Malick Thiaw (110’ for Rüdiger)—6.2SUB: Nadiem Amiri (110’ for Wirtz)—6.1Subs not used: Alexander Nübel (GK), Oliver Baumann (GK), Assan Ouédraogo, David Raum, Angelo Stiller, Maximilian Beier, Pascal Groß, Jamie Leweling.What the Ratings Tell UsLeroy Sané looks like a shell of his former self. | Tom Weller/picture alliance/Getty ImagesLeroy Sané’s form is tremendously alarming, once again failing to do anything of note against Paraguay. The big issue for Nagelsmann is that, following the injury to Lennart Karl, Sané is one of his very few wide alternatives capable of exploiting space, which is why he continued to feature prominently despite his glaring struggles. Both Jonathan Tah and Antonio Rüdiger were brilliant at thwarting Paraguay on the few times it tried to pounce with counter attacks. The questioned center back pairing did its job.Not a single one of Nagelsmann’s substitutes injected Germany with added quality in the final third. It became abundantly clear this iteration of Germany severely lacks difference-making talent. The Numbers That Explain Germany’s World Cup EliminationGermany was stunned. | Mauro Pimentel/AFP/Getty ImagesDespite having only 20% of the ball, Paraguay had a higher xG than Germany in the first half, creating two big chances to Germany’s zero and scoring the first goal of the game. Although Germany completed over 400 more passes than Paraguay, it still just managed an xG of only 0.58 after 90 minutes. Germany bombarded Paraguay’s box with crosses. Yet, it failed to capitalize from the staggering 16 corners it won all game. StatisticGermanyParaguayPossession75%25%Expected Goals (xG)1.490.42Total Shots217Shots on Target63Big Chances22Passing Accuracy90%63%Fouls Committed1812Corners166READ THE LATEST WORLD CUP NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FCAdd us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow