Germany Set Negative Records After Being Eliminated from the 2026 World Cup: Key Figures on the Failure

Germany's national team ended its 2026 FIFA World Cup campaign in the Round of 32. The Mannschaft lost to Paraguay in a penalty shootout that became historic for the German side.

Here are the key statistical facts following the defeat:

• Germany's first-ever penalty shootout defeat at a FIFA World Cup. Before this, Germany had taken part in four World Cup penalty shootouts and had won every one of them.
• Only Germany's second penalty shootout defeat at a major tournament. Before facing Paraguay, the Mannschaft had lost only one previous shootout — the UEFA Euro 1976 final against Czechoslovakia. Every other shootout had ended in Germany's favor.
• Record number of missed penalties. Three German players failed to convert their spot kicks. By comparison, Germany had recorded only one missed penalty across its previous four World Cup shootouts.
• Fourth failure to reach the World Cup quarter-finals. Germany has missed out on the last eight of a FIFA World Cup only for the fourth time in its history. It was also the third consecutive tournament in which this happened.

Since winning the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, German football has endured a difficult period at the tournament. The team failed to progress from the group stage twice in a row before now being eliminated in the opening round of the knockout stage.

As a result, Germany became the first national team in history to win a FIFA World Cup and then fail to reach even the Round of 16 in each of the next three tournaments.