CHICKENPIE.Germany had never lost a World Cup penalty shootout. Not once. Not in 1938 against Sweden, not in 1982 against France, not in 1986 against Mexico, not in 1990 against England, not in 1998 against Croatia, not in 2006 against Argentina, not in any of the ten shootouts that had become the most expensive trivia question in the sport. They were 10-for-10. The whole thing was supposed to be settled law — when the whistle blows, when the spot is marked, when the broadcast cuts to the manager pulling at his collar, Germany goes through.
Last night in Foxboro, in front of a stadium full of people who had come to watch Germany start a knockout round, the spot stopped belonging to them.
Paraguay and four-time champion Germany had traded goals across 120 minutes — Germany took the lead in the second half, Enciso answered in extra time to make it 1-1, the clock ran out, and what had been a tight tactical Round-of-32 game turned into the part of the World Cup every neutral fan was secretly hoping would arrive: the spot, with the famous team on it.
Orlando Gill — a Paraguayan goalkeeper most of the broadcast audience had never heard of twelve hours ago — went down in World Cup history by saving the fifth German penalty. Paraguay took the shootout 4-3. The whole country of Germany went home from a World Cup knockout round earlier than the calendar said it should, with Julian Nagelsmann now in the awkward position of having to defend a coaching record that included, in order, losing to Ecuador in the group stage, beating Ivory Coast on a late goal, and then losing to Paraguay on penalties.
It is, by any honest read of the bracket, the moment the 2026 World Cup stopped being a coronation and started being a contest again. Germany's side of the bracket was supposed to be the road through. Paraguay just parked a forklift on it. The Spanish-language broadcasters were shouting on the field. The German-language broadcasters were not. The Foxboro turf was full of Paraguayan substitutes. The next matchup will probably not include the team most neutrals had penciled in for the semifinals.
Germany was 10-for-10 in World Cup penalty shootouts. Last night, they were 10-for-11. The first one they ever lost, in Foxboro, was the one that sent them home.
Sources: NYT ("Germany out with first World Cup penalty shootout loss ever"), NBC News, ABC News, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, FOX Sports, The Guardian, ESPN, Reuters. World Cup 2026, Round of 32, Foxboro Stadium. Paraguay 1-1 Germany (ET), Paraguay 4-3 Germany (penalties).
