The German national team was eliminated from the FIFA World Cup after losing to Paraguay in a penalty shootout. RIA Novosti Sport examines the sensational downfall of one of the most high-profile participants of the 2026 World Cup, a team that proved utterly unprepared for the quadrennial tournament.
Was there never any hope for Germany anyway?
They advanced confidently from the group stage, securing victories against Curaçao and Ivory Coast with a combined score of 9-2. Yet, there was little conviction in those wins… Perhaps the issue wasn’t their far-from-stellar squad, but rather the hard-fought triumph over the Africans and the loss to Ecuador. Even former England international and renowned pundit Gary Lineker (author of the iconic phrase “Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, Germany always wins”) tore into Julian Nagelsmann’s side, accusing them of unprecedented weakness. He also added that Germany, having failed to advance from the group stage in the last two World Cups, is living in the past… It was as if he cast a spell on them.
But this time, “Die Mannschaft” made it to the knockout stages. Forward Kai Havertz insisted that the team didn’t care about the criticism and was preparing to win… Given the brutal draw, it was assumed the tournament would end for Germany in the round of 16. However, we were mistaken: writing off Paraguay—who advanced from third place in their mediocre group alongside the USA, Australia, and Turkey—was a mistake.
The history of their encounters is worth noting: Germany and Paraguay have faced each other only once at an official level. That match took place in the round of 16 of the 2002 World Cup, where Germany finished as runners-up, and the “Mannschaft” players scraped a narrow victory. Oliver Neuville scored the winning goal in the 88th minute.
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