Germany look to avoid slip-up against disciplined Paraguay

TDT | Manama

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Germany face Paraguay in the round of 32 at the 2026 World Cup tonight, with a place in the last 16 at stake. Kick-off is at 11:30pm Bahrain time at Boston Stadium.

Die Mannschaft topped Group E to progress to the knockout stage, while Paraguay advanced as one of the best third-placed teams from the group phase.

Julian Nagelsmann’s side made a strong start to the tournament, scoring nine goals across wins over Curacao and Ivory Coast to secure qualification with a game to spare. However, they arrive at this fixture on the back of a 2–1 defeat to Ecuador, which brought their group campaign to an underwhelming close.

Despite that setback, Germany remain among the most dangerous attacking sides in the competition, although they are still viewed as outsiders in the title race at this stage, with potential heavyweight opponents such as France looming later in the knockout rounds.

The four-time world champions have endured mixed recent World Cup history, exiting at the group stage in both 2018 and 2022. However, they did win their only previous World Cup knockout meeting with Paraguay, claiming a 1–0 victory in the last 16 in 2002 through a late Oliver Neuville goal.

Paraguay are among the third-placed teams to progress to the round of 32 after collecting four points from their three Group D matches, finishing third behind Australia on goal difference.

Their campaign featured a goalless draw with Australia and a narrow 1–0 win over Turkey, built on defensive organisation and discipline. La Albirroja’s best World Cup finish came in 2010 when they reached the quarter-finals, although they missed out on qualification in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

It remains a difficult task for the South American side, although they did hold Germany to a 3–3 friendly draw in August 2013 in their most recent meeting.