This was Germany’s first penalty shootout loss since the famous Panenka one in 1976. This will certainly go down as the greatest day in Paraguay football history. The South American side showed plenty of fight as they defended with everything they had and clawed themselves to victory. Paraguay went ahead just before half-time when Julio Enciso scored, and then twelve minutes later Kai Havertz equalised for Germany.
Controversial VAR Moment That Went Against Germany
This match had controversy as Germany felt they had scored a perfectly good goal in extra time when Jonathan Tah scored a header. The Paraguay goalkeeper went down, and after a VAR check, referee Jalal Jayed disallowed the goal. This caused the German manager Julian Nagelsmann to go furious on the touchline, and he received a yellow card.
Germany will feel harshly treated by the VAR incident, but the truth is they did not play well enough. Even with the majority of possession, Germany could not create any clear chances. Paraguay will now play either France or Sweden on July 4th in Philadelphia.
