Germany crashed out of the World Cup in the early hours of Tuesday morning after they were beaten on penalties by Paraguay in Boston. Following a 1-1 draw after extra-time, the South Americans were 4-3 victors in the shootout with Jose Canale scoring the winning spot-kick.
But Julian Nagelsmann’s side were furious after they saw a goal controversially ruled out in extra-time, as Jonathan Tah powered home a header at the back post. However, following a VAR review, referee Jalal Jayed decided to rule out the goal as Waldemar Anton was judged to have fouled Orlando Gill in the build-up.
In the aftermath of Germany’s defeat and Tah’s disallowed goal, former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp aimed a subtle dig at Arsenal. Klopp, who is now Red Bull’s Head of Global Soccer, claimed Arsenal “scored 60% of their goals that way” en route to the Premier League title last season.
Germany’s exit at the Round of 32 stage is set to pile the pressure on Nagelsmann’s future, though he confirmed post-match that he won’t step down from his role.
Elsewhere, on Monday, Brazil progressed to the next round following a 2-1 comeback win against Japan in Houston. Kaishu Sano had put the Samurai Blue in front on the half hour, but Brazil turned it around in the second half with Casemiro levelling before Gabriel Martinelli scored the winner in stoppage-time.
Overnight, Morocco then became the fourth team to progress into the last 16 after beating the Netherlands on penalties. Cody Gakpo thought he had scored the winner for Ronald Koeman’s side in the 72nd minute, only for Issa Diop to level for Morocco in the 91st minute. Although Morocco created chances to win in extra-time, they did the job on penalties, winning 3-2 in a tense shootout in Mexico.
There was an emotional moment involving Gakpo after he scored for the Netherlands – just a matter of days following his loss of his unborn son. After falling to the ground, his Netherlands teammates rushed around to support him. Micky van de Ven gave him a kiss on the head as Gakpo broke down in tears, before covering his face with his shirt while Virgil van Dijk embraced him. The ex-PSV man pointed up to the sky in tribute to his unborn child as he walked back to the centre circle.
In other news, temperatures are set to soar in New York over the next few days, with the city’s mayor issuing a warning about “extremely dangerous conditions”. Zohran Mandani said the heat would rise above 37 degrees C from Wednesday until at least Saturday, possibly reaching up to 42 degrees C on Friday. “Under the City’s Heat Emergency Plan, the City has been planning since last week for what may be a historic heat wave,” he posted on X. “Authorities will activate hundreds of free cooling locations across the city from Wednesday,” he added.
