Paraguay stuns Germany on penalties to reach World Cup last 16

Orlando Gill became the face of Paraguay’s biggest World Cup night in a generation, saving in the penalty shootout as the South Americans beat Germany 4-3 after a 1-1 draw in Boston and advanced to the last 16. Tears, chants and long embraces followed the final kick at Estadio Boston, where 63,945 spectators watched Paraguay turn a tense knockout tie into a result that instantly altered the country’s football story.

Julio Enciso put Paraguay ahead in the 42nd minute, giving Gustavo Alfaro’s side a lead they carried deep into the second half. Germany levelled through Kai Havertz in the 54th minute, and neither team found a winner through 120 minutes before Paraguay held its nerve from the spot. FIFA named Gill the Player of the Match after his save in the shootout, a decisive intervention that matched the scale of the occasion.

The win carried a weight that went beyond one elimination game. Paraguay had returned to a World Cup after 16 years away, with its last appearance coming in South Africa in 2010, when it reached the quarter-finals for the best campaign in its history. This tournament was Paraguay’s ninth World Cup, and the passage into the knockout rounds gave the team something it had not had for a decade and a half: a result that could be measured not only by points, but by belief.

Alfaro’s turnaround made the result more striking. The Argentine coach took charge in August 2024 after Paraguay had collected only five points from 18 in the early part of qualifying, and FIFA highlighted the scale of the recovery as he rebuilt the side’s campaign. Paraguay also arrived at the tournament having already been celebrated at home, where the draw with Ecuador that sealed qualification turned Asunción into a party.

The victory also deepened Germany’s recent World Cup problems. After group-stage exits in Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, Germany were again sent home early, this time in the round of 16, by a Paraguay side that never blinked through the pressure of extra time and penalties. For Paraguay, the night in Boston was more than an upset: it was the kind of result that can reset how a country sees its team, and how the world sees the country.