Paraguay beat Germany. Let that sink in for a moment.
On June 29, 2026, Paraguay’s national football team held four-time World Cup champions Germany to a 1-1 draw in Foxborough, Massachusetts, then won the penalty shootout 4-3 to advance to the round of 16. President Santiago Peña responded the only way a head of state can when the unthinkable happens: he gave the entire country the day off.
Peña declared June 30, 2026, a national holiday, and by most accounts, nobody needed much convincing to celebrate. Hundreds of thousands of people flooded the streets of Asunción in scenes that looked less like a sports celebration and more like a city collectively exhaling after holding its breath for 120 minutes.
What actually happened in Foxborough
The two sides were level after 90 minutes, forcing extra time, and then penalties. The shootout went to Paraguay 4-3.
