Paraguay pulled off the shock of the tournament so far, and Brazil and Morocco booked their places in the Round of 16 after knockout round wins on Monday.
It was a day of drama across North America as the first full day of Round of 32 action got going and served up tense match after tense match. Two of the games went to penalties and the other was decided with a winner in the final minutes that sent one team into jubilation and the other into heartbreak.
Here’s everything you need to know to get caught up on a wild day in the 2026 World Cup:
The result of the day came in the middle game when Paraguay stunned Germany, bouncing the four-time world champions out of the World Cup on penalty kicks. The match was the first of the Round of 32 games to go to penalty kicks, the ultimate drama in World Cup knockout play. The game ended 1-1 after 120 minutes, with Paraguay advancing 4-3 on penalties.
It’s the first time the Germans have ever lost in the World Cup on penalties.
The match started with Paraguay producing the opening opportunity in the first minute before the Germans came into the game and began dominating proceedings, though not really doing much in the attacking end.
The Paraguayans instead made their only other opportunity of the half count. Julio Enciso’s headed goal from the penalty spot flew past Manuel Neuer into the German net, taking advantage of some shambolic defending that left the Strasbourg midfielder unmarked in the middle of the penalty area.
The Paraguayans took the unexpected lead into halftime with the four-time World Cup winners, who were making their first appearance in the knockout rounds since winning the tournament in 2014.
The Germans dominated the match after the break but struggled to break down Paraguay’s defense as the South Americans once again assumed the compact defending that had flustered Turkey and Australia in the opening group stage.
Eventually, the equalizer did materialize out of relatively nothing.
A Florian Wirtz cross was whipped into the box as many other German passes had been to start the half, but this time Kai Havertz rose above Paraguay’s defense to nod the ball in. It was a slight touch, but it was enough to find the back of the net and even things up at 1-1.
After the second hydration break, Havertz had another chance with a header in the 78th minute, but it went right at keeper Orlando Gill, who was able to bat it away with both hands. The Germans continued to dominate proceedings, seeking a late winning goal with 30 minutes of extra time looming in the waning sun of the Foxborough, Massachusetts, evening.
The teams traded corner kicks in second-half stoppage time, but neither could muster a true scoring chance, and the game went into the first extra time portion of the tournament, needing another 30 minutes to settle it.
The Germans began putting pressure on Paraguay from the start of the extra period, including a possible penalty when Nick Woltemade’s shot was blocked by Gustavo Gómez, appearing to hit his arm. That moment only resulted in a corner kick, which Germany couldn’t convert.
The deadlock appeared to be broken in the 102nd minute when Jonathan Tah soared above the defense on yet another corner kick, powering his header past Gill to make it 2-1. After Germany celebrated, referee Jalal Jayed signaled for video review after the video assistant referee (VAR) flagged possible foul on Gill as the corner was in the air. Jayed ruled that Waldermar Anton collided with the keeper while the ball was airborne, disallowing the goal.
The match eventually went to penalties, where the pressure showed. Havertz missed the first penalty as Gill made a diving stop. The teams converted their chances in the next three rounds before Woltemade came up and his attempt, low and to the right, was saved by Gil, putting Paraguay on the verge of a win.
Paraguay’s Antonio Sanabria walked up to the spot with a chance to win the match and sent it far wide of the net, giving Germany hope. Amiri came up next, needing to score to keep his team alive and simply buried it in the bottom right corner.
That put all the pressure on Fabían Balbuena, who came on as a sub at the end of extra time. His shot was saved by a diving Neuer, knotting the PKs at three apiece, giving Germany extra life and dragging the shootout on into sudden death.
Next up was Tah, who sent his spot kick flying over the bar, giving Paraguay yet another chance to win the match. José Canale walked up to the spot and buried it to send one of the sport’s blue bloods packing.
Paraguayans in the stands at Boston Stadium were crying tears of joy as Germans placed their hands on their heads in disbelief.
Paraguay will play the winner of France and Sweden, who face off at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday in MetLife Stadium outside New York City.
Morocco fought from a goal down to defeat The Netherlands on penalties in their epic Round of 32 showdown in Monterrey on Monday.
Morocco owned the run of play for much of the early proceedings, having their best chances coming through Paris Saint-Germain player Achraf Hakimi, who was dangerous down the right wing. In the first half, Hakimi hit a solid shot that was pushed over the bar by Bart Verbruggen and then had perhaps the best chance of the first 50-ish minutes when he powered a shot past Verbuggen from a tight angle, sending the ball off the bar.
The game was mostly notable for its physicality as referee Wilton Pereira Sampaio allowed both teams to batter each other, with blood flowing and shirts ripping. Morocco held most of the possession and the best chances, with the Dutch only managing one shot on goal in the first hour of the match.
Still there were no goals as Morocco let multiple chances go wanting and the Dutch failed to look truly dangerous in the final third.
The first goal came in a true counterattack against the run of play in the 72nd minute as the Dutch broke down field after Verbuggen cleared the ball to Wout Weghorst, who had just entered the game as a substitute. The ball went into the path of Crysencio Summerville, who made a driving run to get onto the header. A tackle from the Moroccan defense brought Summerville down but the ball fell into the path of Cody Gakpo, who finished with aplomb.
The emotions of the moment overwhelmed Gakpo, who immediately broke into tears. Gakpo announced before the game that his partner had suffered a miscarriage during the World Cup. All the Dutch players ran onto the field to celebrate with the Liverpool star, who came away from the pile with tears in his eyes.
Morocco pushed for an equalizer as time began to run out and eventually found it just as the match was about to enter injury time. Defender Issa Diop’s header finally beat Verbuggen, coming on a whipped in cross from Chemsdine Talbi, sparking wild celebrations from the Moroccan fans behind the net.
The goal ensured the game ran into extra time, the second match of the day to go to the extra 30 minutes, even though both teams pushed for a winner in the final minutes of regulation.
The extra period started off with Verbuggen making one of the saves of the tournament, as Soufiane Rahimi was in on goal alone. He fired a shot and Verbuggen stretched his right hand and right leg as far as they could go, just getting a hand on the shot and the ball went harmlessly wide.
It was the only major chance of the extra time period as both teams seemed content to settle for penalties.
Teun Koopmeiners walked up for the Dutch and buried the first penalty and then Neil El Aynaoui nailed the bar for Morocco, putting the African champions behind. Justin Kluivert then hit the post for The Netherlands, immediately giving away the advantage. Rahimi was next for Morocco, appearing to have his penalty saved by Verbruggen before the Dutch keeper accidentally knocked it back into his own goal to make it 1-1.
Weghorst stepped up next and slammed his penalty into the top corner and Chemsdine Talbi answered for Morocco to make it 2-2. Quinten Timber then pulled his penalty wide for the Dutch, handing an opening to the Atlas Lions, but Morocco couldn’t take advantage when Hakimi also hit the post.
Summerville stepped up to take the fifth penalty for the Dutch and blasted it right at Morocco keeper Yassine Bounou, who knocked it away with an outstretched hand. That allowed Ismael Saibari to take the penalty that would win the match for Morocco. He put it in the bottom left corner, sending his team through to the Round of 16 and a showdown with Canada on July 4.
Brazil is through to the 2026 FIFA World Cup Round of 16 after a last-minute goal broke Japanese hearts in Houston in the first game of the day.
It took until the dying minutes of the game for the five-time world champions to finally pull ahead of the Samurai Blue, using a goal from Gabriel Martinelli to finally push past the Japanese 2-1.
The initial shock of the match came in the 29th minute when Kaishu Sano opened the scoring for Japan, sending a shot from outside the box. The low strike skirted past a diving Alisson, placed perfectly in the bottom left corner just inside the post.
It was the first goal that Brazil had allowed since Morocco scored first against the Seleção in the opening group match of the tournament.
The Japanese took the lead into halftime, and the Brazilians began to turn up the heat on the other side of the break, starting with a 52nd minute header from Bruno Guimarãres that forced a great save from keeper Zion Suzuki. The Japanese defense was in chaos minutes later as a header from Casemiro hit Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu in the face on the goal line, bouncing back to Suzuki and into another goal-line clearance.
Casemiro got his goal in the 56th minute off a headed ball off a cross from Gabriel Magalhães, finally getting the Brazilians on the board.
Vinicius Junior nearly scored the goal of the tournament just two minutes later as he dribbled through the Japanese defense, toe-poking the ball toward the net. Suzuki just got a hand on it, forcing it onto the post.
Over the next 30 minutes, the game settled in as Japan defended admirably while Brazil looked for a winner.
The moment finally came in the final minute of the match as a Japan giveaway on the edge of the box was quickly converted by Martinelli. The Arsenal striker took a through ball from Guimarães and fired a shot across goal. Suzuki got a fingertip on the ball but it wasn’t enough as the ball bounced in off the post.
Brazil will face the winner of Ivory Coast-Norway in the Round of 16 at 4 p.m. ET on July 5 in MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Ivory Coast and Norway play their Round of 32 match on Tuesday afternoon near Dallas.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
