The Save That Sent Germany Home
The shootout turned on two kicks. The 26-year-old goalkeeper denied Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade from the spot before Jonathan Tah sent his effort high over the bar as Paraguay beat Germany 4-3 on penalties in the Round of 32 on 29 June 2026. Orlando Gill stood on his line at Foxborough and refused to be the smaller name. When it ended, a four-time world champion was out.
The match had reached that point through resistance and controversy. Germany dominated possession, unleashing twenty-one shots towards the Paraguayan goal. Gill executed five world-class saves during regular time, including a reflex stop against Kai Havertz. The score held at 1-1. A German goal in extra time was called back due to a foul in the box, allowing Paraguay to hold on , the VAR review citing a challenge by Waldemar Anton that impeded the keeper. Neither side found a winner across 120 minutes.
Then the theatre of the spot-kicks. Gill took a quick walk around the field to keep Havertz waiting before the first kick, and it worked: he leaned the correct direction and denied Havertz to start the shootout. He then saved from Nick Woltemade to put Paraguay on the brink. The advantage was almost surrendered — a Paraguayan effort dragged wide, Manuel Neuer answered with a save of his own — before sudden death. The Germans missed three of six penalty tries, the last by Jonathan Tah, who blasted his attempt high over the crossbar. José Canale, making his first start, converted the winner.
A Long Way From Peru
The result reframed both a nation and a career. Paraguay became the first team to defeat Germany in a penalty shootout at the World Cup. It was a major triumph for the landlocked country of 7 million, surrounded by soccer giants like Argentina and Brazil, and the latest surprising exit by Germany, a four-time champion that has struggled since it last lifted the trophy in 2014.
For Gill, the arc is short and steep. He was handed his senior debut in a 1-0 qualifying victory over Peru in September 2025. A 6-foot-6 figure who plays for Argentine club San Lorenzo, he helped Paraguay reach the knockout round with clean sheets in a 1-0 group win over Turkey and a 0-0 draw with Australia. This was his first World Cup, and he had grown up admiring the man in the opposite goal.
Afterwards he spoke plainly. "We analyzed every player, every aspect, every little detail," Gill said in an interview after the game. Of Neuer, he added: "I shared a shootout with him, and he managed to save a penalty, too. I have nothing but respect for an idol like him."
One night in Foxborough, the boy who studied the greats became one of them.
