Following his side’s loss to Paraguay in the round of 32 of the FIFA World Cup, former Germany and Manchester City legend Ilkay Gundogan questioned the controversial VAR decision that disallowed a winning goal for the four-time champions and expressed disappointment with the team’s overall performance as well. Scores were level at 1-1 heading into the extra time, and Germany thought they had secured a place in the Round of 16 when Tah headed home from a corner in the 101st minute of extra time. However, following a VAR review, referee Jalal Jayed disallowed the goal after ruling that Germany defender Waldemar Anton had impeded Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill in the build-up.
The match went to penalties, where Paraguay came out on top 5-3, continuing the four-time world champions’ struggles at the big tournaments after the 2014 FIFA World Cup win.
Posting on his X, Gundogan said, “Today’s team performance definitely doesn’t need any sugarcoating… But what the hell was that VAR decision? In the Premier League, they’d just give a weary smile over something like that – especially taking back a decision. Of course, it was brutally disappointing too. Unfortunately, we failed to convince over 120 minutes ourselves… #GERPAR #FIFAWorldCup.”
It was also only Germany’s second defeat on penalties at a major international tournament, the first coming against Czechoslovakia in the 1976 UEFA European Championship final (5-3), as per OptaJoe. After their 2014 FIFA World Cup win, Germany has now registered two back-to-back group stage exits in 2018 and 2022 and a round of 32 exit in the ongoing tournament.
The result also ranks among the biggest knockout upsets in modern World Cup history. Germany entered the tournament ranked 10th in the FIFA World Rankings, while Paraguay were 41st, a gap of 31 places.
Since 1994, only three World Cup knockout eliminations have featured a larger rankings disparity: Spain’s defeat to Russia in 2018 (60 places), Italy’s loss to South Korea in 2002 (34 places), and Spain’s quarter-final exit to South Korea in 2002 (32 places).
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