German football legends Thomas Muller and Jurgen Klopp were left in absolute disbelief after seeing Julian Nagelsmann’s side knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2026 in the Round of 32, following a dramatic defeat on penalties on Monday. Germany seemed to have won the contest in extra time when defender Jonathan Tah headed home what appeared to be the winning goal from a corner kick. However, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) intervened and disallowed the goal, suggesting that Germany’s Waldemar Anton had fouled the Paraguay goalkeeper prior to Tah’s header.
The controversial decision has triggered a massive debate on social media. Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp went as far as suggesting that Premier League side Arsenal would not have won the 2025/26 league title had refereeing standards been applied this way.
The Gunners scored 25 Premier League goals from set-pieces (excluding penalties) during their recent title-winning campaign. For Klopp, Arsenal would never have become champions if referees made the same decisions witnessed in Monday’s Germany vs Paraguay match.
“If that goal is illegal, then Arsenal are not English champions,” Klopp told German broadcaster Magenta TV. “They scored 60 per cent of their goals that way. We win the game when the ball goes in. So, of course, this is brutal.”
Thomas Muller also slammed the VAR decision whilst speaking to Magenta TV.
“I honestly do not know what VAR is looking at anymore. What kind of call is that? The goalkeeper must be the luckiest player on the pitch because, from everything I have seen, Germany scored a perfectly legitimate goal. Jonathan Tah attacked the ball brilliantly, won it fairly, and finished with authority. That is football. That should never have been taken away,” Muller said.
Muller added that the German squad felt completely cheated by the decision.
“We, the Germans, feel used and cheated. This is wrong. This is daylight robbery on the biggest stage in football. If that is a foul, then football has completely lost its consistency because we have seen far stronger challenges allowed throughout this tournament. The referee and VAR searched for something that simply was not there,” he said.
germany goal was disallowed for this pic.twitter.com/oyJ1swovmn
— Taxx (@taxxfcb) June 29, 2026
The former Bayern Munich star also expressed deep sympathy for his compatriots, saying the technology had erased a defining World Cup moment.
“You work your whole life to play at a World Cup, you fight for every ball, you finally score what should be the winning goal, and then someone sitting in a room hundreds of metres away decides to erase that moment over a decision that millions of people will disagree with. That is heartbreaking for every player on that pitch,” Muller told the German broadcaster.
While acknowledging that wins and losses are part of the game, Muller labelled the decision as nothing more than an incomprehensible interpretation of the rules.
“I can accept losing to the better team. I can accept missing chances. But I cannot accept having a perfectly good goal taken away because of an interpretation that nobody understands. Germany deserve better than this, and football deserves better than this. Right now, it feels like we have been punished by technology instead of protected by it,” Muller concluded.
The defeat marks Germany’s third consecutive failure to reach the Round of 16 at a FIFA World Cup. The controversial VAR decision, Paraguay’s immense defensive resilience, and Germany’s lack of clinical finishing from the penalty spot remain the major talking points of the tournament.
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