Jonathan Tah’s extra-time goal was disallowed by VAR, opening up a painful defeat for Germany against Paraguay.
The Germany national team stopped bitterly in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup after a 3-4 defeat against Paraguay on penalties. However, the focal point of the match was the situation where VAR stripped away Jonathan Tah’s goal in extra time, a decision that sparked much controversy.
After the two teams drew 1-1 in the official 90 minutes, Germany pushed their lineup high looking for a decisive goal. In extra time, Tah jumped high to head the ball into Paraguay’s net from a corner kick situation, causing the German players to burst with joy.
However, the Moroccan referee, Jalal Jayed, received a signal from the VAR team and went directly to the monitor to review the situation. After a few minutes of consultation, he determined that center-back Waldemar Anton fouled goalkeeper Orlando Gill before Tah finished successfully, thereby disallowing the goal.
According to the refereeing team’s assessment, Anton obstructed Gill’s ability to come out and claim the ball. However, this decision immediately met with reactions from many experts.
Commenting on the BBC, former England captain Alan Shearer argued that this was too soft a foul to disallow a goal. “I completely disagree with the decision. The goalkeeper went down too easily. True, there was contact, but football is inherently a contact sport. Inside the penalty area, there are a lot of players contesting, that is not a foul in my opinion,” Shearer remarked.
Former assistant referee who served at a World Cup final Darren Cann also agreed. He believed that the collision situation was very minor but it was not a surprise when VAR intervened.
“It was just a very small screen on the goalkeeper. The contact was almost negligible, but I still thought VAR would disallow the goal for obstructing the goalkeeper,” Cann analyzed.
The disallowed goal forced the match to be decided by a penalty shootout. Here, Paraguay showed more bravery by securing a 4-3 victory, thereby eliminating Germany to win a ticket to the round of 16, while “the Panzer” disappointedly left the World Cup.
