The third match in the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup, which brings together Germany and Paraguay at Boston Stadium, United States is a repeat of the round of 16 match of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.
The round of 16 of the 2002 World Cup is equivalent to the round of 32 of the 2026 edition, as both are the first round of the knockout phase.
24 years ago, Die Mannschaft met La Albirroja for the first time, directly in a tournament as important as the World Cup, in the knockout stages too.
The match took place at the Jeju World Cup Stadium in Seogwipo, South Korea, on June 15, 2002.
The match was heated inside and out, to the point where the referee had to issue five yellow cards, three of which were for Germany.
The final straw came when Roberto Acuna was shown a red card two minutes after normal time. The match could have ended in a draw and even a penalty shootout, had it not been for Oliver Neuville's 88th-minute goal.
Following that match, Paraguay was forced to return home early, while Germany continued their journey to the final, only to be stopped by Brazil, who went on to win the title but have not won the World Cup since.
A year later, Germany and Paraguay met again in a friendly, in a less heated atmosphere than during the 2002 World Cup. In this match, the two teams drew 3-3.
Now, in the 2026 World Cup, the two teams meet for the third time, on a stage that could be as heated as 24 years ago, considering they have only two options, lose or win, as happened in the 2002 World Cup.
But perhaps that's only for Paraguay, whose memories of 2002 will still be burning, because Germany, led by the youngest coach at the 2026 World Cup, Julian Nagelsmann, seems more willing to take reasonable and rational steps, so that Die Mannschaft doesn't collapse prematurely.
Germany has just ended a poor run of two World Cups when they only competed in the group stage.
But Nagelsmann doesn't want to just qualify for the knockout phase .
He wants Germany to be careful in its steps so it can repeat its success from 12 years ago in Brazil, the last time the country won the world title, and become the first European team to win the World Cup in the Americas.
