FOXBOROUGH: Jonathan Tah drove Germany’s sixth spot-kick well over the bar after seeing his apparent extra-time winner controversially denied and Paraguay knocked the Germans out of the World Cup with a 4-3 victory on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the last 16 on Monday.
Tah missed after Orlando Gill saved Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade to put Paraguay in control, only for Albirroja to get their first two chances to seal the tiebreaker.
Manuel Neuer saved the second of those against Fabian Balbuena to force an unlikely sixth round kick.
But Tah’s effort never came close to finding the net and, after Jose Canale converted, Paraguay were through to the last 16 of their first World Cup since 2010, at the expense of a Germany side that have not reached that stage since winning the 2014 tournament.
Gill also made six saves in 120 minutes for Paraguay, who are looking to repeat their 2010 quarter-final appearance.
Germany thought they had won it in extra time on Tah’s 102nd minute header from Nathaniel Brown’s corner.
But referee Jalal Jayed was called to the replay monitor by lead VAR Tatiana Guzman. After re-watching the play, he wiped the goal away, ruling that Waldemar Anton had chased Gill to make room for Tah’s header at the back post.
Julio Enciso put Paraguay ahead in the 42nd minute in one of the South Americans’ only forays forward before the break with a neat header from Matias Galarza’s cross from close to the penalty spot.
Havertz equalized for Germany nine minutes after the break on an even better header, Florian Wirtz sending into the bottom right corner.
The Tahs’ disallowed goal was one of a stream of later chances where the Germans just couldn’t find the breakthrough.
In the 78th minute, Havertz again connected from even closer range, but this time Gill darted to his left in time to deny the effort.
In the 86th, Leon Goretzka met Wirtz’s corner but saw his defender kept out of the goal by his own teammate Anton, who was standing near the line in an offside position.
And then in second-time extra time, Anton himself claimed another German corner in the 118th minute, his header headed straight into Gill’s waiting arms on the goal line.
