While Alisson Becker and Brazil were able to celebrate early on Monday after a strong second half helped them to get past a determined Japan 2-1 and progress to the Round of 16, that would prove to be the high point of the day for Liverpool’s players at the 2026 World Cup.
The day’s first Round of 32 tie was followed by Germany taking on Paraguay, with the UEFA giants one of the pre-tournament favourites and Paraguay the worst of South America’s offerings at this World Cup and a side lucky to be in the knockouts
at all. In group play they had been hammered by the United States, struggled to create anything in a nil-nil with Australia, and managed to eke past a Turkiye in turmoil with a 1-0 win.
That got them third in the group and a slot against Germany in Boston, and as expected Paraguay played a tight and defensive game and didn’t create much of anything. Neither, though, did Germany, struggling more with Paraguay’s low block than even Liverpool last season.
It was Paraguay who went up first when Julio Enciso scored late in the first half, going up for a free header six yards from goal when Germany fell asleep in open play shortly following a corner. Kai Havertz levelled early in the second half but even after that it rarely felt like Germany deserved to get the winner as the game dragged towards extra time and then penalties where they lost.
It was penalties in the day’s final game, too, but the route to getting there was far more competitive and provided some of the best football of the tournament. Where Germany vs. Paraguay had been an underdog in a low block and a favourite failing to break them down and almost seeming to give up, Netherlands vs. Morocco was a clash of heavyweights.
In a game that wouldn’t have looked out of place as a quarter- or even semi-final, Netherlands and Cody Gakpo scored first—and you could see how much it meant to Gakpo as teammates huddled around him in celebration and he broke down in tears.
The game up until that point had been extremely physical and hard-fought. The Dutch, though, reacted to Gakpo’s 72nd minute goal by dropping into a defensive shell. From that moment on, there was only one side trying to play football, and after Issa Diop glanced an equalizing header into the goal in the 91st minute and the match headed to extra time that didn’t change.
Morocco attacked, and pressed, and probed, and created. They didn’t quite break through, but goodness did they try. Meanwhile, the Dutch sat back, almost seeming to play for penalties for the entire 30 minutes of extra time. While unfortunate for Gakpo and for fellow Liverpool teammates Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch, in the end it would have been an injustice had Netherlands won on penalties.
They didn’t, and so they’re going home. It’s a disappointing end to it, for Wirtz with Germany and Gakpo and Van Dijk and Granverbech with the Dutch. It will at least mean that all get a little more rest this summer, though none will be interested in that Liverpool-tinted silver lining.
For their upset, Paraguay will go on to face the winner of France vs. underdogs Alexander Isak and Sweden who play today, while Morocco get co-hosts Canada—albeit in Houston—in the Round of 16. Today’s other games have no direct Liverpool interest, with Cote d’Ivoire taking on Norway and Mexico facing Ecuador.
