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:

Paraguay stuns the Germans on penalties, 1-1 (4-3)

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.(CNN Sports, 2026-06-30)