Coach says Germany not among 'first-class teams' after World Cup exit
Coach says Germany not among 'first-class teams' after World Cup exit
Jason Snow, The Patriot LedgerTue, June 30, 2026 at 1:52 AM UTC
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FOXBOROUGH — Some had hands on their heads. Others buried their heads in their shirts.
The Germany national team stood on the pitch in devastation after its 1-1 (4-3 penalty kicks) loss to Paraguay in the World Cup Round of 32 at Boston Stadium on Monday, June 29.
The nation has not advanced past the knockout round since winning it all in Rio de Janeiro in 2014, marking three straight tournaments without a victory past the group stage.
“This is now the third elimination in a row," Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann told reporters, as translated by the FIFA translation app. "We are not part of the first-class teams anymore."
A header by Germany's Jonathan Tah off a corner kick stood as the go-ahead goal in the 103rd minute until VAR review spotted a blocking foul impeded Paraguay keeper Orlando Gil. The goal was scratched and the teams went to a second 15-minute period, and eventually a penalty-kick stand-off.
Paraguay's Jose Canale netted the deciding goal after the teams remained square after five shooters.
According to ESPN, it stands as Germany's first-ever World Cup penalty-kick loss dating back to 1982 (4-1 record).
"I feel for everybody. I'm very sad," midfielder Nadiem Amiri said in English. "It was a shocking end from the game. At the moment, it's very difficult to find the right words."
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Germany entered the match as the No. 10 team in the FIFA world rankings. Paraguay was No. 41. The loss dropped Germany to No. 12.
Germany was under the direction of a different manager for the third straight World Cup. It was led by Joachim Löw during its 2014 victory and 2018 group-stage elimination, Hansi Flick during its group-stage exit in 2022 and now the 38-year-old Nagelsmann, the former FC Bayern Munich coach.
"If we’re going to do a survey today in Germany, people are not going to speak about me positively," said Nagelsmann. "In football you have to win more games than you lose. We haven’t done too much in this tournament (for) people (to) celebrate with us. I don’t think everybody in Germany will agree with me staying on.
"It’s always like that if you have a big change. It took time," the manager said. "We have a lot of young talented players, but they will need time."
In this year's group stage, Germany won Group E after just its second match. It defeated Curaçao (7-1 final) and Ivory Coast (2-1 final) before falling to Ecuador (2-1 final) as the lead-up into play in the knockouts.
"There's a lot of quality in the squad," Amiri said. "But, in the moment, to think about the future is the wrong decision."
Kyle Grabowski contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Coach says Germany not among 'first class teams' after Paraguay loss
Source: “AOL Sports”
