FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The World Cup’s round of 32 delivered a tense, evenly matched battle between Germany and Paraguay on Monday, with both sides forced into a decisive penalty shootout after finishing regulation and extra time deadlocked at 1 goal apiece.
Paraguay drew first blood in the closing minutes of the first half, when forward Julio Enciso rose above the German defense to power a header into the back of the net, putting his side ahead going into the halftime break. Germany responded quickly after the interval, with Arsenal forward Kai Havertz finding the net in the 52nd minute to level the score and set the stage for a dramatic second half.
As the final whistle of regulation blew with the score still tied, the contest moved to 30 minutes of extra time to find a winner. In the 102nd minute, it looked as though Germany had secured the go-ahead goal: defender Jonathan Tah directed a corner kick from Nathaniel Brown past Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill, who could not reach the looping header. However, a VAR video review immediately intervened, ruling that German defender Waldemar Anton had illegally pushed Gill to the ground prior to the header. The goal was ruled out, leaving the score unchanged.
This matchup marked only the second time these two nations have faced off at a men’s World Cup. Their only prior meeting came in the 2002 tournament’s round of 16, where Germany edged Paraguay 1-0 to advance. Monday’s clash was also a historic milestone for Germany: it marked the four-time world champions’ first knockout round match since their 2014 World Cup final win over Argentina in Brazil, where they lifted their fourth World Cup trophy with a 1-0 extra time victory.