Germany’s football crisis deepened on Monday after the four-time world champions crashed out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 at the hands of Paraguay, prompting coach Julian Nagelsmann to admit his side are no longer among the game’s “first-class teams.”
For Germany, the defeat extends a decade-long decline at the World Cup. Since winning the title in Brazil in 2014, they have failed to win a knockout match and have now exited three successive tournaments at the earliest opportunity, leaving German football facing renewed questions over its direction.
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Germany, playing their first World Cup knockout match in 12 years after group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022, were eliminated following a 1-1 draw and a penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay at Boston Stadium. Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade and Jonathan Tah all missed from the spot as the four-time champions suffered their first-ever World Cup penalty shootout defeat and extended their wait for a knockout victory since lifting the trophy in 2014.
Coach vows to stay
“If you exit after the first stage, it’s not enough for German football,” Nagelsmann said. “This is now the third elimination in a row, so we are not part of the first-class teams any more. I am disappointed.”
Nagelsmann, who has been in charge since 2023 and is under contract until after the 2028 European Championship, said he wanted to continue despite acknowledging criticism back home.
“If the DFB (German FA) wants me, I am going to continue,” he said. “I know a lot of people want me to leave, but I would love to continue if the DFB want me. I’ll give my arguments to my boss.”
“If there was a survey today in Germany people aren’t going to talk about me positively, obviously. We have not done much during this tournament.”
“I’m not someone who runs away.”
Defensive flaws prove costly
The result capped another disappointing World Cup campaign for Germany despite an encouraging group stage. Nagelsmann’s side topped Group E after scoring 10 goals – the joint-highest tally of the first round – but defensive vulnerabilities that had surfaced earlier in the tournament again proved costly.
Germany failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their four matches and struggled to break down Paraguay despite dominating possession. Julio Enciso gave Paraguay the lead before Havertz equalised, while Jonathan Tah had an extra-time winner ruled out following a VAR review.
Time for big changes
Nagelsmann said Germany had created enough chances to win and described the decision to disallow Tah’s goal as “a joke”, but Paraguay stayed compact defensively and forced the game into penalties.
Orlando Gill saved efforts from Havertz and Woltemade before Tah blasted his penalty over the bar. José Canale then converted the decisive spot-kick to send Paraguay into the Round of 16.
The defeat marks another disappointing World Cup campaign for Germany, who have now suffered three successive early exits after failing to progress beyond the group stage in 2018 and 2022.
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Nagelsmann suggested changes could be needed after the latest setback. “Probably we need to do a big change, we will see,” he said. “We need some solutions for the future. I won’t go into details today but there are some things that need to be changed.”
Paraguay seals it in style
Paraguay, meanwhile, produced one of the biggest results in their history. Enciso scored the country’s first World Cup knockout-stage goal before Orlando Gill saved penalties from Havertz and Woltemade. After Tah fired over the bar, José Canale converted the decisive spot-kick to send Paraguay into the Round of 16.
And Germany’s decline at the World Cup has been as steep as it has been swift. After lifting the trophy in Brazil in 2014 — their fourth World Cup title — Die Mannschaft have endured three successive tournament nightmares. At Russia 2018, as defending champions, they finished bottom of their group behind Sweden, Mexico and South Korea — the first time since 1938 that Germany had failed to advance beyond the first round.
Four years later in Qatar, Germany again stumbled at the group stage, undone by Japan and Spain, despite scoring four goals against Costa Rica in their final group game. And in 2026, Paraguay dealt the final blow.
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