Overview
The German team will enter the first knockout match at the World Cup since the 2014 final when facing Paraguay in the round of 32 at Boston.
Coach Julian Nagelsmann's team won the top spot in Group E, but the journey in the group stage was not entirely smooth. After a 7-1 devastating victory over Curacao in the opening match, Germany had to rely on a late goal from Deniz Undav to come back and defeat Ivory Coast 2-1. In the last match, they lost to Ecuador 1-2, but that result did not affect the ticket to the next round.
However, passing the group stage is also a significant step forward for the German team, after two consecutive World Cups in 2018 and 2022 both stopped right from the group stage.
The last time Germany participated in a World Cup knockout match was the 2014 final in Brazil, where Mario Gotze's goal in extra time helped them defeat Argentina 1-0 to win the championship.
More broadly, Germany has won 8 out of 9 recent World Cup knockout matches, only losing to Spain 0-1 in the 2010 World Cup semi-finals.
Another positive sign is that the attacking power of the German team is evenly divided. After the group stage, they scored 10 goals with the contribution of 7 different players. Their record at a World Cup is 8 players scoring, a record previously set in 1954, 2002, 2010 and 2014.
Julian Nagelsmann also stands before the opportunity to go down in history when he becomes the youngest coach to lead a World Cup knockout match since Henri Michel of the French team in the 1986 World Cup third-place match.
Besides, goalkeeper Manuel Neuer is also preparing to reach a memorable milestone. If he plays against Paraguay, he will have his 23rd official match at the World Cup, surpassing two legends Lothar Matthaus and Miroslav Klose to become the German player with the most official matches in the history of the tournament.
In the opposite direction, Paraguay started the 2026 World Cup with a heavy 1-4 defeat to co-host USA. However, the South American representative quickly regained their spirit when defeating Turkey 1-0 despite having to play with one less player after Miguel Almiron's red card, before drawing with Australia 0-0 to win a ticket to the next round.
Julio Enciso is Paraguay's biggest highlight in the group stage. This attacking midfielder contributed to both of the team's goals, and also led the team in the number of chances created (5), open chances (3), expected assists (0.22) and the number of high-intensity pressures in the opponent's half (84).
This is the fifth time Paraguay has participated in the World Cup knockout round. However, in the previous four times, they only won one match - a penalty shootout victory against Japan in the round of 16 of the 2010 World Cup.
Notably, Paraguay has not scored any goals in the previous 5 World Cup knockout matches. This is the longest goalless streak of a team in the knockout round in the history of the tournament.
Head-to-head record
Germany and Paraguay have only met twice in history, including once at the World Cup.
The most memorable encounter took place in the round of 16 of the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. At that time, Germany won minimally 1-0 thanks to Oliver Neuville's late goal to write their name into the quarterfinals.
The remaining confrontation was a friendly match in 2013, ending in a 3-3 draw after an exciting chase.
Score prediction: Germany 2-0 Paraguay
The match between Germany and Paraguay takes place at 3:30 am on June 30 (Vietnam time).
