Penalty Drama at World Cup – Paraguay Stun Germany, Morocco Knock Out Netherlands

Two European heavyweights. Two penalty shootouts. Two stunning eliminations on the very same Monday. The Round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup had promised drama, but nobody could have predicted that both Germany — four-time world champions — and the Netherlands would be sent packing on spot-kicks within hours of each other, undone by Paraguay and Morocco in performances that will be remembered as among the greatest upsets in the tournament’s history.

Foxborough, Massachusetts & Monterrey, Mexico: It started in New England and finished in northern Mexico, but by the time the World Cup’s Round of 32 matches had concluded on Monday, the giants of European football had been humbled twice over. Paraguay beat Germany 4-3 on penalties to earn the biggest upset of the 2026 World Cup so far, while hours later and a continent away, Morocco beat the Netherlands on penalties to book a Round of 16 tie against co-hosts Canada in Houston on July 4. Two shootouts. Two giant-killings. One extraordinary day for football’s underdogs.

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Germany’s Penalty Curse, Finally Broken — Against Them

For decades, German penalty-shootout pedigree was the stuff of football folklore — clinical, ruthless, almost mythical in its consistency. Germany had won six of their seven penalty shootouts in major tournaments, including six straight since losing to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final. On Monday at Gillette Stadium, that aura evaporated completely. Paraguay became the first team in history to defeat Germany in a penalty shootout at a World Cup.

The match itself had been a story of missed German chances and Paraguayan resilience. Julio Enciso’s 42nd-minute header from Matías Galarza’s cross gave Paraguay a half-time lead built from a limp first-half German display, before Kai Havertz equalised eight minutes after the restart with a glancing header from a Florian Wirtz cross. Germany then thought they had snatched the winner in extra time. Jonathan Tah headed in a Nathaniel Brown corner kick in the 102nd minute, only for officials to disallow the goal after a video review concluded Waldemar Anton had pushed goalkeeper Orlando Gill to the ground before the header. It was a sliding-doors moment that would define the entire tie.

What followed in the shootout was carnage for the Germans. Kai Havertz, fresh off helping Arsenal end a 22-year Premier League title wait, missed the opening kick. Nick Woltemade and Jonathan Tah also missed for Germany, sending their side to a 4-3 shootout defeat. José Canale converted the decisive sudden-death penalty, sending Manuel Neuer the wrong way to complete the most stunning of upsets.

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For Paraguay, a nation of just seven million, the achievement carries enormous historical significance. Paraguay had appeared in five previous World Cup knockout games without scoring a single goal, advancing only once — on penalties against Japan in the Round of 16 at South Africa 2010 — before falling to eventual champions Spain in the quarter-finals. Monday’s win avenged Germany’s 1-0 victory over Paraguay in their only previous World Cup meeting, at the 2002 tournament in the Round of 16. German coach Julian Nagelsmann did not mince his words afterward. “It’s not enough for German football,” he said bluntly, his side eliminated in the knockout rounds for the first time since reaching the 2014 final, having crashed out at the group stage in each of the previous two World Cups.

Heartbreak in Monterrey for the Dutch

If Germany’s exit was shocking for its manner, the Netherlands’ elimination was agonising for its timing. The Oranje found what looked like a winning goal through Cody Gakpo in the 72nd minute, only for Issa Diop to glance home an equalising header in the first minute of stoppage time — scoring his first international goal for Morocco at the worst possible moment for Dutch hearts.

Extra time settled little, with Bart Verbruggen producing a crucial, point-blank save to deny Soufiane Rahimi’s gilt-edged opportunity and keep the tie alive heading into the shootout. When the spot-kicks arrived, the drama only intensified. Neil El Aynaoui’s opening Moroccan attempt struck the crossbar, only for Justin Kluivert to hit the post on the Dutch reply. Quinten Timber and Achraf Hakimi both then missed for their respective sides — Timber sending his effort wide, Hakimi rattling the post — before Yassine Bounou produced a clutch save to deny Crysencio Summerville, who had been visibly cramping during the closing stages.

That set up Ismael Saibari, who had already endured tough misses earlier in the match, to step up and finish low and to the left, sending Bart Verbruggen the wrong way and confirming Morocco’s place in the Round of 16. The result extends the Netherlands’ long search for a first-ever World Cup title — a wait that will now stretch to at least 2030 — while Morocco advance to face co-host Canada in Houston, a side fresh off their own historic stoppage-time win over South Africa.

A Day That Reshaped the Bracket

Both results land as seismic shocks to a tournament that many had pencilled European heavyweights into deep into the knockout rounds. Entering the tournament, FIFA had ranked Germany 10th in the world and Paraguay 41st — making the German defeat a contender for the greatest World Cup upset since Bulgaria stunned defending champions Germany at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. Speaking on the day’s chaos, observers noted that with Germany falling to Paraguay and the Netherlands then being knocked out on penalties hours later, the new-format Round of 32 was already proving that every tie in this expanded bracket would be a genuine battle.

For Paraguay and Morocco, Monday will live long in football memory — a day when two of Europe’s most storied football nations discovered, in the cruellest fashion possible, that on a single afternoon at a World Cup, history counts for nothing once the whistle blows.

Results — 2026 FIFA World Cup | Round of 32

Germany Goals: Julio Enciso 42′ (PAR) | Kai Havertz 52′ (GER) — Decided on penalties, 4-3 to Paraguay
Netherlands Goals: Cody Gakpo 72′ (NED) | Issa Diop 90’+1 (MAR) — Decided on penalties, 3-2 to Morocco

Next: Paraguay face the winner of France vs Sweden in the Round of 16 | Morocco face co-hosts Canada in Houston on July 4