Published on 6/30/2026
The German national team was subjected to a bitter exclusion, on Monday, after losing on penalties to the Paraguayan national team in a match that ended in a 1-1 draw and witnessed many records.
The German national team was eliminated from only two matches out of the last 10 matches it played in the World Cup elimination rounds, as the first defeat was in the semi-finals of the 2010 edition against Spain (1-0).
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Germany also lost its first penalty shootout in the history of the World Cup, the fifth time it went to a penalty shootout in the tournament, and it was only its second loss in a major tournament, after the Euro 1976 final against Czechoslovakia.
The difference in the world rankings between Germany (10th place) and Paraguay (41st place) reached 31 places before the tournament, which is the fourth largest difference in the history of the World Cup knockout rounds (since 1994) after the matches of Spain vs. Russia in 2018 (60th), Italy vs. South Korea in 2002 (34th), and Spain vs. South Korea in 2002 (32nd).
An exceptional acquisition…but
Germany’s national team’s possession percentage in this match was 75.4%, which is the third highest percentage recorded (since 1966) in a World Cup knockout round match, after the matches between Spain vs. Russia in 2018 (79.3%) and Spain vs. Morocco in 2022 (76.8%).
The German national team has conceded goals in each of its last ten matches in the World Cup, which is the longest consecutive streak in the history of its participation in the tournament.
No player provided more assists in the 2026 World Cup than Florian Wirtz (3), except Bruno Guimarães (4), while the last German player to provide more assists in one edition of the tournament was Michael Ballack in 2002 (4).
Manuel Neuer played his 23rd start for the German national team in the World Cup, and only Lionel Messi (26) precedes him in the number of starts in the history of the tournament.
After my goal today, 33 headed goals were scored in the 2026 World Cup, and no other edition witnessed a greater number of headed goals scored in the history of the tournament (since 1966) except the 2002 edition (35).
Kai Havertz scored his 25th international goal in his 62nd match; He also scored more goals for the German national team under Julian Nagelsmann than any other player (12).
The secret: penalty kicks
Paraguay qualified for only the second time in its history from a World Cup knockout round match, and both qualifications came via penalty kicks (they won 5-3 on penalty kicks over Japan in the round of 16 in 2010).
Julio Enciso’s opening goal was Paraguay’s first ever goal in the World Cup knockout stages, having failed to score in their previous five knockout matches.
Julio Enciso directly contributed to all three of Paraguay’s goals at the 2026 World Cup (one goal and two assists), and only Russian Oleg Salenko (7 in 1994) has achieved more goalscoring contributions while being involved in 100% of his national team’s goals in a single edition since 1966.
