Published on 6/30/2026
|
Last update: 12:05 (Mecca time)
The German national team’s exit from the 2026 World Cup against Paraguay turned into an issue that sparked widespread controversy within Germany, after the local press and the technical staff held the players responsible for the exclusion due to a refereeing decision they considered wrong, more than they held the players responsible for the loss on penalties.
The German national team lost to Paraguay on penalties, after the two teams tied 1-1, in a match that witnessed one of the most controversial moments in the tournament, when Moroccan referee Jalal Jaid canceled a goal scored by defender Jonathan Tah during the extra period, after returning to the video assistant referee (VAR) technology, due to a violation on Paraguayan goalkeeper Orlando Gil.
Read also
list of 2 itemsend of list
This decision sparked a widespread wave of anger in Germany, as the majority of the media considered that the refereeing intervention changed the fate of the match, and it became the most prominent headline after the end of the match.
Newspapers and analysts believed that the German team did not leave the tournament due to missing penalty kicks or misuse of opportunities, but rather as a result of an arbitration decision that they described as incomprehensible, while social media platforms were filled with clips of the controversial shot, amid demands to clarify the reasons for canceling the goal.
Nagelsmann: It’s a farce
German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann was the most critical of the decision, as he described it in statements to ZDF channel as a real scandal, stressing that he had not seen any violation that would require canceling the goal. Before that, he said in an interview with MagentaTV that what happened was a farce, a phrase that made the headlines of many German newspapers and sports websites.
Nagelsmann considered that the Paraguayan goalkeeper was not subjected to any real obstruction, and that the decision to cancel the goal deprived his team of qualifying at a moment when the match was heading towards its end.
Arbitration experts criticize the video technology (VAR) decision
The anger was not limited to the technical staff, but a number of the most prominent arbitration experts in Germany joined it.
Former German international referee Thorsten Kienhofer confirmed that the shot did not include a violation that would require canceling the goal, considering that the contact that occurred inside the penalty area is normal in such cases.
German referee Patrick Etrich also criticized the VAR intervention, explaining that the referee initially awarded the goal, and there was no “clear and clear error” that justified calling him to review the shot, which is the basic condition for VAR intervention.
During the analytical programs, the experts re-viewed the shot from different angles, confirming that the Paraguayan goalkeeper was not actually prevented from reaching the ball.
Klopp mocks.. and a different opinion
German coach Jurgen Klopp entered the controversy, using a sarcastic method to criticize the decision, as he pointed out that such contacts occur repeatedly in English Premier League matches, and if they were counted as violations every time, a large number of goals would be canceled in modern football.
On the other hand, former English referee Mark Clattenburg presented a different opinion, considering that the referee’s decision was correct, and that the violation against the goalkeeper was clear, but this opinion remained an exception among the majority of German analysts.
