The German media reacted with shock and condemnation after the four-time World champions were knocked out of the 2026 edition by Paraguay.
Germany have failed to reach the last-16 in any of the past three tournaments, haven’t won a World Cup knockout game since the final in Rio de Janeiro in 2014.
Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann, who at the age of 38 became the youngest coach in a World Cup knockout stage in 40 years, opted for an offensive line-up, giving his team’s top scorer in the tournament, Deniz Undav, his first start.
The Germans thought they had snatched a winner in the 102nd minute when defender Jonathan Tah headed in a corner at the far post but after a lengthy VAR review the goal was disallowed for a foul on the keeper.
They then saw Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade and Jonathan Tah fail to score from the spot before Jose Canale, after two misses by the South Americans, kept his composure to seal Paraguay’s win.
Bild called it a “disastrous performance … In their first World Cup knockout match since winning the title in 2014, Julian Nagelsmann’s team delivered a truly awful performance for much of the game. Slow. Boring. Lethargic. It’s another German football nightmare!”
De Zeit bemoaned a “lack of imagination” and accused the team of beating themselves. “They have lost all sense of their former glory,” Christian Spiller wrote, pointing to a wider decline in German football beyond the powerhouse of Bayern Munich.
This exit was even more “embarrassing” than that of 2022, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung, when Germany were knocked out in the group stage, because the team were somewhat unlucky in Qatar. Not this time, when they simply didn’t have the answers.
There was also some sympathy for the German team after they were denied what appeared a legitimate goal by Tah in extra time.
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp likened Tah’s disallowed goal to many Arsenal had successfully scored throughout the Premier League season.
Klopp, who is working for German television during the World Cup, told MagentaTV: “If the goal is illegal, then Arsenal won’t be English champions. They’ve scored 60 per cent of their goals that way. We [Germany] win the game when the ball goes in. So, of course, this is brutal.”
Elsewhere, French outlet L’Equipe called it the “biggest shock of the World Cup so far” and Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport hailed Paraguay, who “fought with great heart and determination for every ball”.
And in Spain, Marca’s story ran: “There’s nothing left of Germany. Not even in the penalty shootout.”
