Germany vs Paraguay: Match Preview | OneFootball

After more than two weeks, the group stage is finally done and we are on to the knockout stage, where the winner goes through and the loser goes home.

One of the tasty matchups is Germany taking on Paraguay, a rematch of a World Cup game from 24 years ago. The Germans scored a very late goal to win that game 1-0 in 2002. What will happen this time? Let’s dive in.

Germany’s Previous Games

Germany are coming into this World Cup after back-to-back group stage exits. So they will be playing a knockout World Cup game for the first time since 2014.

They started off this tournament well, beating debutants Curaçao 7-1, with six different players scoring the goals. The second game was much tougher, but they came from behind to beat Ivory Coast, with substitute Denis Undav scoring twice.

The Germans already topped the group before playing the last game. So it seemed like they would rotate the side but Julian Nagelsmann chose not to do that. He still fielded a strong side to keep the momentum.

They took the lead, but eventually lost the game 2-1 to Ecuador. Now it will be interesting to see how they bounce back in the knockout game against a fellow South American side.

Paraguay’s Previous Games

This was Paraguay’s first time qualifying since 2010, where they actually reached the quarterfinals.

Before coming into this World Cup, their goal was simple: Get out of the group stage. But that simple baseline looked nearly impossible after the first game, where they got outclassed by the USMNT and suffered a 4-1 loss.

Paraguay recognized that defeat made their task much harder, but they managed to turn it around. Their next opponent, Türkiye, were considered a dark horse by many people. But even with Miguel Almirón getting sent off before half time, they clung to their 1-0 lead, scored in the 2nd minute, and beat them.

After beating Türkiye with 10 men, they knew a draw in the last game would guarantee them a knockout appearance. And they did just that. They went into the game against Australia and walked away with a 0-0 draw. Job done.

Prediction

Although Paraguay were poor against the USMNT, they have gotten their act together and they could be a problem for the Germans.

The last time they faced off in the World Cup, Paraguay’s Italian coach Cesare Maldini didn’t get along well with the players. In fact, the players communicated in Guaraní among themselves so Maldini wouldn’t understand, and tried to play their own game.

This isn’t going to happen this time. Their current coach Gustavo Alfaro is well respected among the group for bringing Paraguay back to the World Cup. Under his guidance they managed to beat Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay in the qualifying campaign.

Meanwhile, Germany have looked much better since Julian Nagelsmann took over. After poor campaigns in 2018 and 2022, they look strong this time around, scoring 10 goals from seven different players in three group stage games.

However, relying on a 40-year-old keeper Manuel Neuer could be a problem, and the defense looked shaky at times against both Ivory Coast and Ecuador. Paraguay will look to exploit that.

This will be a fantastic game, but Germany will just slightly edge Paraguay due to individual quality up top and go through at the end, like how it played out in 2002.

Prediction: Germany 2-1 Paraguay