FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – For veteran Associated Press staff photographer Charles Krupa, who has been part of the AP’s global photography team since 1985 and works out of the Boston bureau, the 1994 World Cup match between Paraguay and Germany at Foxborough’s Boston Stadium brought a once-in-tournament lucky break after five games of near-misses.
Krupa had covered the first five World Cup matches held at the venue, and in every game, the tournament’s most unforgettable, game-changing moments had unfolded at the opposite end of the pitch from his assigned press position. By the time the Paraguay-Germany clash rolled around on Monday, he had all but written off another round of bad positioning – until the final minutes of the match forced penalties, and a historic upset played out right in front of his lens.
After 90 minutes of regulation time and a scoreless extra time, the two sides headed to a penalty shootout to decide who would advance. Krupa’s pre-planned strategy for the shootout positioned him to focus primarily on the goalkeeper from his vantage point. As penalties went back and forth between the two teams, he captured sharp, clear action shots of saves and goals for both squads. When it came to the decisive match-winning kick, however, things did not go according to his original plan. Germany’s goalkeeper dove low to his right – an angle that put him completely out of clear view for Krupa – while the Paraguayan shot sailed high into the left side of the net, out of the photographer’s ideal frame.
Quick to pivot, Krupa shifted his focus to the rushing Paraguayan side, who were sprinting directly toward him to celebrate their historic upset win, heading straight for the player who had nailed the winning penalty. In that same frame, the stunned German team stood frozen in silence, their World Cup title hopes dashed by the final kick of the shootout. The resulting single image perfectly captures the sharp, raw contrast between unbridled joy and crushing defeat, the fleeting balance between winner and loser in elite sport. For the first time that tournament, Krupa was positioned on the exact end of the field where the winning celebration unfolded.
Krupa credits the success of the iconic shot not just to luck, but to pre-tournament planning from his AP colleagues. All photographers had coordinated their assignments in advance for the scenario of a match tied after extra time, and he said guidance from photo editor Tony Hicks and fellow photographer Petr Josek put him in the right position to adapt when the winning kick fell outside of his original plan.
This behind-the-scenes look is part of AP’s ongoing coverage of the 1994 World Cup, with additional coverage from the tournament available on the AP’s official platforms.