Germany furious after "terrible" VAR call costs them against Paraguay

Germany were left furious after a VAR decision ruled out Jonathan Tah’s extra-time header against Paraguay, with head coach Julian Nagelsmann calling the call “a joke.” The disallowed goal proved decisive, as Paraguay went on to win 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Tah had headed Germany into a 2-1 lead in the 12th minute of extra time, only for the referee to overturn it after being sent to the pitchside monitor. The officials judged that Waldemar Anton had impeded Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill before the corner reached Tah, but many observers felt the contact was minimal.

Alan Shearer described the decision as “pathetic” and said the goalkeeper had “conned” the referee and VAR. He argued that football is a contact sport and that the challenge was far too soft to justify disallowing the goal. Jurgen Klopp, working for German television, also criticised the call and compared it to the kind of physical contact often seen on set pieces in the Premier League.

Other pundits were similarly unconvinced. Darren Cann said the incident was soft and not enough to rule the goal out, while Pat Nevin called it a subjective decision and said the contact was not clear enough. The general feeling among the analysts was that Germany had been hard done by.

For Nagelsmann, the decision was even more frustrating because his side appeared to have won the game at that point. He was shown a yellow card for his protests, and his future remains unclear after the defeat. Germany now face a painful exit built around one of the tournament’s most controversial refereeing calls.