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The knockout stage has officially outlined the road to the World Cup final, and one of the most intriguing round-of-32 contests sees Germany take on Paraguay at Foxborough's Boston Stadium on Monday evening.

The winner of this fixture will move on to face either France or Sweden in the next round, as both Die Mannschaft and Los Guaraníes aim to secure their place in the last 16.

Julian Nagelsmann’s Germany appeared on course for a flawless Group E campaign after back-to-back victories over Curacao and Ivory Coast, but their momentum was halted by a surprising defeat to Ecuador.

Paraguay, on the other hand, advanced to the knockout phase through the World Cup’s new third-place qualification rule, having collected a single point from their Group D fixtures against Australia.

Germany’s head coach Julian Nagelsmann will be eager to guide his side beyond the group stage after a disappointing recent history at the tournament. The four-time champions suffered consecutive group-stage exits, ending a remarkable 64-year streak of reaching the knockout rounds.

In contrast, Gustavo Alfaro’s Paraguay have shown impressive consistency, reaching the knockout stage in three of their last four World Cup appearances, though they have been eliminated at the round-of-16 each time.

Historically, the matchup favours Germany, who previously faced Paraguay in the 2002 World Cup and went on to reach the final that year. Such precedent, combined with their star-studded squad, keeps the odds in their favour.

Among the standouts for Germany is Stuttgart striker Deniz Undav, whose impact as a substitute has been remarkable. He has scored three goals from the bench, averaging one every 50 minutes and 47 seconds — a rate superior to that of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe.

With such an impressive record, Undav is once again expected to make a decisive contribution. We predict that the dynamic forward will have the last laugh once more, leading Germany’s talented squad past Paraguay and sealing another chapter in their World Cup journey.