Houston, June 30. Former five-time champions Brazil entered the pre-quarterfinals of the FIFA World Cup 2026 by defeating Japan 2-1 with a last-minute stoppage time goal by Gabriel Martinelli in a thrilling match in the Round of 32. But four-time former winners Germany and Netherlands had to look for the exit.

Paraguay sees off Germany in shootout, Netherlands lost to Morocco

In the thrilling match played in Boston, Germany and Paraguay remained tied 1-1 till the stipulated time. Paraguay dashed the Germans’ hopes with a 4–3 victory in the penalty shootout. A similar scene was seen in Monterrey, when the match between Morocco and Netherlands ended in a 1-1 draw at the scheduled time. But Morocco won 3-2 in the penalty shootout.

Brazil bounced back after falling behind against Japan

Talking about the Round of 32 match between Brazil vs Japan, it seemed to be heading towards extra time as both the teams were tied 1-1 at the start of regular time and six minutes of extra time. But Martinelli scored a brilliant goal in the last minute and sent Brazil, the most successful team of the tournament, into the next round. However, Brazil fell behind early in the match when Kaishu Sano gave Japan the lead in the 29th minute. Currently, Casemiro equalized for Brazil in the 56th minute.

Germany lost penalty shootout for the first time in World Cup history

To be honest, the biggest upset of the tournament was seen in the form of departure of Germany, who had to lose the penalty shootout for the first time in World Cup history. At the end of the first half, Julio Enciso gave Paraguay the lead with a header, while in the 52nd minute Kai Havertz scored an equalizing goal for Germany. A German goal was disallowed in the 102nd minute of extra time.

Germany last won the World Cup in 2014

Paraguay eventually became the first country to defeat Germany in a penalty shootout. With this, Paraguay settled the score with Germany after almost 24 years, which had previously won the only meeting between the two teams (Round of 16 in 2002) 1-0. At the same time, after last winning the trophy in 2014, Germany has been continuously struggling in the World Cup. Paraguay will now face the winner of the France vs Sweden match.

Netherlands could not reach the round of 16 for the first time

As far as Netherlands is concerned, it failed to reach the round of 16 of the tournament for the first time. Before this, the Dutch team had reached at least the round of 16 in 11 World Cups and four years ago in Qatar it was successful in reaching the quarter-finals. Whereas Morocco had made a brilliant journey till the semi-finals in the last World Cup.

Morocco reached the semi-finals in the last World Cup

In the shootout, Tun Koopmeeners and Wout Weghorst scored goals for Netherlands, while Sufiyan Rahimi, Chemseddine Talbi and Ismail Saibari scored goals for Morocco, giving the team a thrilling victory. In regular time, Cody Gakpo scored for the Netherlands in the 72nd minute while Morocco’s Issa Diop equalized the score in the 91st minute.

Canada advances to last 16 with win over South Africa

Earlier in the day, in the first round of 32 match, Canada defeated South Africa 1-0 and reached the pre-quarterfinals for the first time in World Cup history. The only goal of the match played in Los Angeles was scored by Stefan Eustaquio in the second minute of stoppage time. Canada will now meet Morocco for a move to the quarter-finals.