Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade and Jonathan Tah missed crucial penalties as four-time winners Germany were eliminated from the World Cup in a shootout by No.34 ranked Paraguay.

The Germans became the first powerhouses at the tournament to be eliminated in the round of 32 on Monday, after a 1-1 draw led to a penalty shootout in Foxborough.

Paraguay blew two opportunities from the spot to send Germany home, before José Canalescored in sudden death.

Paraguay had held Germany to a draw after Julio Enciso’s opener was cancelled out by Havertz. VAR disallowed a Tah goal in extra-time to frustrate the Germans.

“We had to analyze every player, every detail. Thanks to that I was able to only miss two penalties,” Gill said afterwards. “This is for all the people of Paraguay.”

Canale said: “I think we deserved one more game and to be honest considering everything that was said, everything we went through. What I wan to highlight from our team is how united we are. … Today was a game we really needed to show our true colours.”

Germany had won six of seven penalty shootouts in major tournaments, including six straight since losing to Czechoslovakia in the 1976 European Championship final.

In the only previous World Cup match between the teams, Germany beat Paraguay 1-0 in the round of 16 at the 2002 tournament. Nearly a quarter of a century later, Paraguay has revenge.

Paraguay had appeared in five previous knockout games but failed to score in each. It advanced only once in those previous occasions, winning on penalty kicks against Japan in the round of 16 at the 2010 tournament in South Africa. They fell that year to eventual champion Spain in the quarterfinals.

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