After losing to Paraguay, Germany hasn’t won a knockout match since the 2014 Final

The sting of Germany’s latest World Cup exit against Paraguay confirms a staggering reality: twelve years after lifting the trophy in Rio de Janeiro, Die Mannschaft remains trapped in a prolonged knockout-stage drought. What began as a historic triumph in 2014 has curdled into a decade-long struggle to assert dominance when the pressure of single-elimination football arrives.