Jose Canale scored on the first sudden death penalty kick, Orlando Gill made two key saves in the shootout, and Paraguay beat Germany 4-3 on penalties Monday to earn the biggest upset of the 2026 World Cup so far.
The match ended 1-1 after extra time. Paraguay took the lead when Julio Enciso scored on a header late in the first half, but Kai Havertz equalized in the 52nd minute for four-time champion Germany.
“We had to analyze every player, every detail. Thanks to that I was able to only miss two penalties,” Gill said afterward. “This is for all the people of Paraguay.” Paraguay, ranked 34th by FIFA, is the deepest betting long shot to win a World Cup match and did it against 12th-ranked Germany.
The Paraguayans will next face the winner of Tuesday’s match between France and Sweden in the round of 16 on Saturday in Philadelphia. A win in that match would land them back in Foxborough for a quarterfinal match on July 9. Monday was Germany’s first knockout game since the 2014 final in Brazil when the Germans beat Argentina 1-0 to capture their fourth World Cup title.