The German national team lost to Paraguay 3-4 on penalties after neither regular time nor extra time produced a winner. For the four-time world champions, it is a historic defeat: Germany lost a World Cup penalty shootout for the first time. After winning the title in 2014, the team failed to advance past the group stage in 2018 and 2022, and now they have been eliminated in their first knockout match.
Paraguay, ranked only 41st in the FIFA world rankings before the tournament, celebrated one of the greatest successes in their World Cup history. The South Americans reached a quarterfinal for the first time in years. There they will face the winner of the match between France and Sweden.
The Netherlands led against Morocco until stoppage time but conceded an equalizer in added time. Morocco prevailed in the penalty shootout. For the North Africans, it is their second major World Cup sensation in a row: in 2022 in Qatar, they became the first African team to reach the semifinals. In the quarterfinals, Morocco will now face Canada.
The surprises of the first knockout round confirm a trend: the gap between the traditional favorites and the other teams is visibly shrinking at this World Cup.
Source: www.bbc.com
