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Germany Player Ratings vs Paraguay

Originally posted on Essential Football | By J Johnson | Last updated Jun 30, 2026 9:27 AM ET

We witnessed one of the all-time great World Cup shocks last night, as unfancied Paraguay dumped out Germany in the last 32 on penalties. In a game where chances came at a premium, the South American outfit defended with indefatigable bravery to win the day over the 2014 champions.

For Germany, this was a defeat that raises some truly damning questions. Are the players good enough? Is manager Julian Nagelsmann the right man for the job? Perhaps most concerningly, how long will it be before Germany win – or can even truly challenge for – a World Cup again?

As one of the most successful nations in World Cup history, Germany always enter the competition with a sense of expectation. Now, that has been replaced by a sense of impending doom. They weren’t even able to create all that much, to be honest – they ended the 120 minutes with an xG rating of just 1.49. They rattled off 21 shots, but many of them were speculative.

We gave each Germany player a grade based on their overall performance against Paraguay. Spoilers – most of them are pretty low. Before that, however, let’s take a look at who their best and worst players were on the day.

Who was the man of the match for Germany?

Once again, Liverpool star Florian Wirtz was excellent for Die Mannschaft. Creating the assist for their first goal, he has been one of few Germany players who can hold their head up high after a dismal World Cup campaign.

Constantly trying to assert himself and psush forward against a deeply stubborn Paraguay backline, he ran at them and made them think twice throughout the game, even amid minimal support from his often-turgid teammates.

Kai Havertz also looked to cause trouble, despite not being a natural striker. He scored their only goal of the game and presented an effective aerial presence throughout.

Who was Germany’s worst player against Paraguay?

It might seem harsh, given his relatively limited involvement, but we’re going to point the finger at Newcastle United’s Nick Woltemade. Brought on to cause danger in the box late on, he did nothing of the sort.

To his defence, Germany’s cautious style of play didn’t really benefit him, but he looked completely lost when he came on from the bench in the 88th minute. On top of all that, he also missed his penalty in the shoot-out to boot.

He wasn’t the only poor performance for Germany on the day – Denis Undav was completely toothless, despite being so dangerous in the group stage. Felix Nmecha was hooked at half-time after yet another subpar display, while Jonathan Tah was frequently bullied in the air and on the ground.