{"id":45945,"date":"2026-06-30T13:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/45945\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T13:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T13:28:08","slug":"merz-roasted-after-germanys-latest-world-cup-humiliation-against-paraguay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/45945\/","title":{"rendered":"Merz Roasted after Germany\u2019s Latest World Cup Humiliation Against Paraguay"},"content":{"rendered":"

German national football\u2019s decade-long decline continued after Monday\u2019s Round of 32 match against Paraguay ended in another World Cup elimination for the Nationalelf. <\/p>\n

In the end, even veteran captain Manuel Neuer\u2019s heroic saves proved insufficient in the penalty shootout, as Kai Havertz, Nick Woltemade, and Jonathan Tah all missed from the spot, marking Germany\u2019s first penalty misses in a World Cup shootout since the semi-finals of the 1982 tournament. It also marked the German national team\u2019s first-ever defeat in a World Cup penalty shootout.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s header. Arsenal\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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 Fabi\u00e1n Balbuena to force sudden death. Bayern Munich centre-back Jonathan Tah then blazed Germany\u2019s next\u2014and ultimately final\u2014attempt over the bar before Jos\u00e9 Canale converted the decisive penalty, sealing Paraguay\u2019s 4\u20133 victory and a place in the Round of 16, where they will face the winner of today\u2019s match between France and Sweden.<\/p>\n

Following the match, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz posted on X<\/a> praising the German team\u2019s \u2018commitment and team spirit\u2019 at the World Cup, adding that they had \u2018inspired the country\u2019. \u2018We are proud of you,\u2019 Merz concluded, prompting many to wonder whether the post was satirical or whether the chancellor was simply detached from reality.<\/p>\n

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. \u2018As in politics, applauding failure. Merz in his element,\u2019 one user wrote, while Apollo News editor Benedikt Brechtken responded: \u2018So you know nothing about football either.\u2019 Right-wing activist Naomi Seibt<\/a> was even more direct: \u2018No, it was sh*t. I do not celebrate below-average performance. That also applies to your chancellorship.\u2019<\/p>\n

Financial journalist and bestselling author Mario Lochner said the post represented \u2018everything that is wrong in this country,\u2019 while lawyer Markus Haintz compared those trying to portray the result more positively to supporters of the federal government defending \u2018below-average performance\u2019 despite Germany no longer being able to compete with the world\u2019s best.<\/p>\n

The official account of leading opposition party Alternative f\u00fcr Deutschland (AfD) also joined the ridicule, claiming that Merz had become so accustomed to \u2018talking up the miserable performance of his CDU that he simply cannot do anything else.\u2019 The criticism reflected a broader view that the chancellor\u2019s praise bore little resemblance to a performance described by former Germany coach J\u00fcrgen Klinsmann as \u2018devastating\u2019 and \u2018an embarrassment\u2019, while former players Mats Hummels and Christoph Kramer called for consequences after yet another German elimination.<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

It is fair to say that today\u2019s Nationalelf is far removed from the teams that inspired the famous quote<\/a> by England icon Gary Lineker: \u2018Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the same applies to Germany itself. Once Europe\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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