Day 19: Paraguay Stun Germany on Penalties, Brazil Survive Japan in Houston

Two ties, two completely different kinds of drama, one common thread: on the first Monday of the Round of 32, the team that dominated the ball still had to sweat for its life. Brazil bossed Japan from the first whistle and only got the win in the 95th minute. Germany bossed Paraguay for two hours and didn’t get the win at all.

By midnight in the eastern United States, one of the pre-tournament favourites was out — beaten on penalties by a side that was thumped 4-1 by the hosts in the group stage — and the five-time champions had needed a substitute’s nerve to avoid joining them. If you only had time for the headline from Day 19, it was this: Paraguay 1-1 Germany, Paraguay through 4-3 on penalties. Follow the rest of the bracket as it shakes out on the live scores and schedule pages.

Paraguay 1-1 Germany (Paraguay win 4-3 on penalties): the great escape in Boston

This is the result this World Cup will remember. At Gillette Stadium outside Boston, Germany had 75% of the ball, 21 shots to seven, sixteen corners to six, and an expected-goals edge of 1.49 to 0.42 — and went home anyway.

Julio Enciso gave Paraguay a lead their first hour fully deserved, sweeping in Matías Galarza’s pass on 42 minutes for the country’s first-ever knockout-stage goal at a World Cup, a milestone noted by ESPN. Kai Havertz answered nine minutes after the break, heading home Florian Wirtz’s delivery to settle German nerves. From there it was siege football: Jonathan Tah had a goal disallowed by VAR for a foul on 102 minutes, the corners piled up, and Paraguay simply refused to crack. Tempers did, though — both dugouts were booked, Julian Nagelsmann and Gustavo Alfaro among the names in the referee’s notebook by the end of extra time.

Then the shootout, and a piece of history Germany would have bet their lives against. Havertz, having been booked moments earlier, saw his opening kick saved by Orlando Gill. Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala and Nadiem Amiri all converted, but Gill also turned away Nick Woltemade, and the sequence reached sudden death level at 3-3. Manuel Neuer, 40 years old and magnificent, kept Germany alive by parrying Fabián Balbuena — but with the next kick Tah dragged his effort off target, and José Canale — a centre-back, of all people — rolled in the winner. Paraguay 4-3. Germany, who had never lost a World Cup penalty shootout in their history, finally lost one when it mattered most — a record both Al Jazeera and the wires flagged immediately.

“Today was a match in which we had to be Paraguay more than ever,” captain Gustavo Gómez told Al Jazeera. “Germany knew that if they wanted to beat us, they would have to sweat blood, because we were going to make defeat very, very costly for them.” Nagelsmann, for his part, framed it as a national reckoning. “This is now the third elimination in a row, so we are not part of the first-class teams any more,” he said, per ESPN — a brutal accounting after group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022 and now a last-32 collapse here. Alfaro, criticised for parking the bus through the group phase, has been vindicated in the most spectacular way.

Brazil 2-1 Japan: Martinelli rescues a Houston grind

For an hour at NRG Stadium in Houston, the upset of the night looked like it might be wearing blue. Kaishu Sano had put Japan ahead on 29 minutes, and Hajime Moriyasu’s side — compact, disciplined and happy to foul (13 to Brazil’s four) — were strangling the game exactly as planned.

Carlo Ancelotti’s response was the difference. Casemiro powered in a header from Gabriel Magalhães’ cross on 56 minutes to level, and the introductions of Endrick and, crucially, Gabriel Martinelli around the hour mark gave Brazil a second gear. The numbers tell the story of the siege that followed — 69% possession, 19 shots to five, an xG of 1.69 to 0.23 — but for a long while Japan’s Zion Suzuki was equal to everything, and Vinícius Júnior’s clipped effort against the post kept the nerves jangling.

It finally broke in the fifth minute of stoppage time. Bruno Guimarães slipped Martinelli through, and the substitute beat Suzuki low to send Brazil into the Round of 16 and break Japanese hearts, as FIFA and BBC Sport recorded. Brazil, unbeaten winners of Group C — a draw with Morocco followed by 3-0 wins over Haiti and Scotland — are through, but Ancelotti will know this was no procession. Japan, missing the injured Takefusa Kubo throughout and shorn of Wataru Endo and Kaoru Mitoma, can argue they were the better story for 90 of the 95 minutes. As the BBC put it, they gave Brazil a scare and fell short — there is no shame in that, only the ache of how close it came.

Standings and what’s next

The Round of 32 is the new gateway of this 48-team edition — win it and you’re in the last 16, lose it and you’re on a flight home, no second chances. (If the bracket maths still has you guessing, the new-format primer lays it out.)

Both Monday winners now know roughly where they’re headed. Paraguay, improbably, are off to Philadelphia on Saturday, 4 July for a Round-of-16 date with the winner of France and Sweden — a first World Cup quarter-final push since 2010 suddenly within reach. Brazil move on to the New York/New Jersey Stadium on 5 July, where the winner of Côte d’Ivoire and Norway awaits. One of the tournament’s giants is already gone; the other escaped by five minutes. The knockouts have arrived, and they are not taking prisoners. Keep the full bracket and group tables handy.

Paraguay 1-1 Germany (Paraguay win 4-3 on penalties): the great escape in Boston

Brazil 2-1 Japan: Martinelli rescues a Houston grind

Standings and what’s next

Sources