Jonathan Tah rose highest at the back post, powered a header across Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill, and thought he had snatched Germany a 2-1 lead in the 12th minute of extra time. Instead, the goal was ruled out by VAR, and Germany were left to suffer a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat that eliminated the 2014 world champions in Boston.
The controversy began seconds before Tah's header, when Germany's Waldemar Anton was judged to have impeded Gill as he fell to the turf. Referee Jalal Jayed was sent to the pitchside monitor by the VAR and chalked off the goal. Alan Shearer, speaking on BBC One, called it a "terrible decision" and accused Gill of having "conned the referee". "The keeper falls to the ground on a slight touch," Shearer said. "The way he went down was pathetic."
“Germany lost on penalties to Paraguay after Jonathan Tah's extra-time header was controversially disallowed by VAR, sparking fury from Nagelsmann and Shearer.”
Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann was shown a yellow card for his protests. "In my opinion, this foul was not a real foul; it was actually a joke that his goal was disallowed," he fumed. Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, working for German television, likened the disallowed goal to many Arsenal had scored on their way to the Premier League title. "If the goal is illegal, then Arsenal won't be English champions," Klopp told MagentaTV. "They've scored 60% of their goals that way."
Paraguay, ranked 41st in FIFA's world rankings, had taken a first-half lead through Julio Enciso before Kai Havertz glanced home from Florian Wirtz's delivery to level. After Tah's disallowed effort, the match went to penalties, where Havertz and Newcastle forward Nick Woltemade saw their spot-kicks saved by Gill. Paraguay had two chances to win, but Antonio Sanabria and Fabian Balbuena both missed. Tah then blazed over, allowing Jose Canale to seal a memorable 4-3 victory.
Shearer, speaking on Netflix show The Rest is Football, reserved particular criticism for Wirtz, the Liverpool star who registered an assist but struggled to influence the game. "They've got the quality in names and on paper, but they just didn't deliver," Shearer said. "Wirtz has had a terrible season at Liverpool, he hasn't performed again at this World Cup." When Micah Richards pointed out Wirtz's £116 million transfer proved his quality, Shearer shot back: "What's he done this season?"
Germany's exit leaves Nagelsmann's future uncertain, with his team unable to back up a 7-0 thrashing of Curacao. "When it really mattered, the quality wasn't there at all," Shearer added.