Paraguay stuns Germany on penalties to reach World Cup round of 16

José Canale buried the decisive penalty and Orlando Gill saved two shots as Paraguay beat Germany 4-3 in a shootout after a 1-1 draw at Boston Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, sending the South American side into the World Cup round of 16. The result, one of the tournament's biggest shocks, gave Paraguay its first win over Germany in World Cup play and delivered Germany its first defeat in a penalty shootout at the competition.

Julio Enciso put Paraguay ahead at the end of the first half, finishing the kind of late chance that sent Paraguayan supporters into full celebration in the stands. Germany answered through Kai Havertz in the 52nd minute, and neither side found a winner through the rest of regulation or extra time. In the shootout, Gill's two key stops tilted the pressure toward Paraguay before Canale converted the sudden-death kick that ended it.

The victory carried extra weight because the teams had met only once before at a World Cup, when Germany beat Paraguay 1-0 in the round of 16 in 2002. Nearly a quarter-century later, Paraguay reversed that history in front of a crowd that treated Foxborough like a national stage far from home. Paraguay, a landlocked country of about 7 million people, now moves into the last 16 with one of the defining results of the 2026 tournament.

The wider round of 32 only sharpened the sense that North American venues were being remade by traveling fan bases. In Houston, Brazil edged Japan 2-1 on a late Gabriel Martinelli goal, while in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Morocco eliminated the Netherlands 3-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. The day left Germany out, the Dutch out, and Paraguay's supporters with a breakthrough that resonated far beyond Massachusetts, in a tournament now being shaped as much by the noise in the stands as by the scoreline on the field.