World Cup: Paraguay surprises and advances against Germany on penalties

Paraguay secured a place in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup after beating Germany on penalties, this Monday (29), in a match valid for the round of 16 stage of the tournament.

After 1-1 in normal time, the Paraguayans got the better of the penalties after goalkeeper Orlando Gill decided and saved two penalties.

The game
Paraguay took the lead. In the 41st minute of the first half, Miguel Almirón found Matías Galarza on the right, and the midfielder crossed the ball for Julio Enciso to rise above the defense and head the ball into the back of the net, putting the South Americans ahead before the break.

On the way back to the final stage, Germany increased the pressure in search of a reaction. The equalizer came after just eight minutes, when Florian Wirtz lifted the ball in the box and Kai Havertz appeared well to head the ball past goalkeeper Orlando Gill.

With the score equal, the Germans began to control possession and created the main opportunities. Havertz was once again frightening with a header saved by Gill, while Leroy Sané and Joshua Kimmich tried to find spaces in front of the Paraguayan defense, which remained organized and managed to neutralize a good part of the attacks.

Paraguay, in turn, bet on counterattacks and still faced danger in some arrivals, but found it difficult to maintain possession of the ball in the final stretch of the match. Even under pressure, the South American team resisted until the final whistle of regulation time.

With no winner after 90 minutes, Germany and Paraguay went into extra time to decide who advances to the round of 16 of the World Cup.

During extra time, Brown took a corner from the right, and Tah headed the ball at the second post and sent it into the back of the goal to turn the score to 2-1, but the referee was called for a VAR review and disallowed the goal because he saw Anton's foul blocking goalkeeper Gill's path.

The match went to penalties and the star of Paraguayan goalkeeper Gill shone even brighter, as he saved penalties from Kai Havertz and Woltemade.

Next steps
Paraguay will face the winner of France x Sweden in the round of 16, which will face each other this Tuesday (30), at 6pm, at MetLife Stadium, in the United States.

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Source: CNN