German national football’s decade-long decline continued after Monday’s Round of 32 match against Paraguay ended in another World Cup elimination for the Nationalelf.
In the end, even veteran captain Manuel Neuer’s heroic saves proved insufficient in the penalty shootout, as Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade, and Jonathan Tah all missed from the spot, marking Germany’s first penalty misses in a World Cup shootout since the semi-finals of the 1982 tournament. It also marked the German national team’s first-ever defeat in a World Cup penalty shootout.
The match was tense but largely low in quality and ultimately forgettable. While Germany dominated possession throughout, the South American side took the lead on the stroke of half-time through Julio Enciso’s header. Arsenal’s Kai Havertz equalized in the 54th minute, after which more than an hour of attritional football followed before the teams remained deadlocked and the match went to penalties.
Then the drama unfolded. Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill saved penalties from Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade, but Germany were handed a lifeline when Antonio Sanabria fired wide and Neuer denied Fabián Balbuena to force sudden death. Bayern Munich centre-back Jonathan Tah then blazed Germany’s next—and ultimately final—attempt over the bar before José Canale converted the decisive penalty, sealing Paraguay’s 4–3 victory and a place in the Round of 16, where they will face the winner of today’s match between France and Sweden.
Following the match, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz posted on X praising the German team’s ‘commitment and team spirit’ at the World Cup, adding that they had ‘inspired the country’. ‘We are proud of you,’ Merz concluded, prompting many to wonder whether the post was satirical or whether the chancellor was simply detached from reality.
The comments section immediately erupted. Commenters, including many well-known public figures in Germany, accused Merz of celebrating failure and presenting mediocrity as a national achievement. ‘As in politics, applauding failure. Merz in his element,’ one user wrote, while Apollo News editor Benedikt Brechtken responded: ‘So you know nothing about football either.’ Right-wing activist Naomi Seibt was even more direct: ‘No, it was sh*t. I do not celebrate below-average performance. That also applies to your chancellorship.’
Financial journalist and bestselling author Mario Lochner said the post represented ‘everything that is wrong in this country,’ while lawyer Markus Haintz compared those trying to portray the result more positively to supporters of the federal government defending ‘below-average performance’ despite Germany no longer being able to compete with the world’s best.
The official account of leading opposition party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) also joined the ridicule, claiming that Merz had become so accustomed to ‘talking up the miserable performance of his CDU that he simply cannot do anything else.’ The criticism reflected a broader view that the chancellor’s praise bore little resemblance to a performance described by former Germany coach Jürgen Klinsmann as ‘devastating’ and ‘an embarrassment’, while former players Mats Hummels and Christoph Kramer called for consequences after yet another German elimination.
Monday’s humiliation, however, did not create the crisis in German football; it merely confirmed how far the four-time world champions have fallen since lifting the trophy in Brazil in 2014. Germany subsequently crashed out in the group stage at both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, reached only the Round of 16 at Euro 2020 and the quarter-finals on home soil in 2024, before now suffering a third consecutive premature World Cup exit against Paraguay, ranked 41st in the FIFA World Ranking.
It is fair to say that today’s Nationalelf is far removed from the teams that inspired the famous quote by England icon Gary Lineker: ‘Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.’ Over the past decade, Germany has repeatedly changed managers and rebuilt the squad with the promise of a new beginning, only for each major tournament to expose the same lack of consistency, leadership, and ruthless winning mentality that once defined the Nationalelf.
Ironically, the same applies to Germany itself. Once Europe’s economic powerhouse, it has become a symbol of managed decline. The economy grew by just 0.2 per cent in 2025 after two consecutive years of recession, while the manufacturing, automotive, and machinery sectors continued to shrink. The nuclear phase-out and the abandonment of cheap Russian energy exposed deep structural vulnerabilities, while successive governments struggled to tackle illegal and mass migration, execute deportations, and address growing public anxiety over everyday security. Like the Nationalelf since 2014, Germany has moved from dominance to stagnation; from leading Europe to institutionalized mediocrity.
Related articles:
At a time when public debate is increasingly polarized and superficial, Hungarian Conservative remains committed to depth, intellectual honesty, and independent conservative thought.
Producing high-quality journalism requires resources. Your contribution helps us expand our coverage, reach new audiences, and keep our content accessible.
Please consider supporting our mission.
