Germany begin their World Cup 2026 knockout stage campaign against Paraguay in Boston tonight. The four-time winners topped Group E with a game to spare, thumping minnows Curacao 7-1 in the opening game before sealing qualification with a come-from-behind win victory over Ivory Coast. Though, they will be desperate to prove the Ecuador defeat was nothing more than a minor blip.
Paraguay, meanwhile, looked to be down and out after losing 4-1 to USA in their World Cup opener but have shown great powers of recovery, recording a shock 1-0 win over Turkey – with ten men after Miguel Almiron’s controversial red card – before playing out a goalless draw with Australia which was enough to progress as the seventh best third-place finisher.
This is Germany’s first round of 32 appearance at this tournament in 12 years and they are heavy favourites to beat a Paraguay side that has never scored a World Cup knockout round goal in normal time, and set up a last-16 showdown against either France or Sweden this weekend.
