World Cup live updates: Germany and Paraguay set to face off in Boston’s first knockout round match
Win and you move on. Lose, and you’re headed home. We’re onto the knockout rounds of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with two new countries — Germany and Paraguay — playing in Foxborough on Monday afternoon.
Follow live updates from the game (plus any other traffic and transit news) below.
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Here’s what to know about the World Cup in Boston today
- Boston plays host to two more World Cup games, including Monday’s Round of 32 showdown between Germany and Paraguay. The game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. and you can watch on Fox.
- Boston’s final World Cup game will be played July 9. The winner of Monday’s game, if it advances past the winner of France-Sweden, would return to play at Gillette Stadium. Take a look at the bracket here.
- The Boston FIFA Fan Fest is over. The city’s event shut down after the weekend, one of the few in the country that did not extend its hours through the knockout rounds of the tournament.
Boston World Cup live updates: Paraguay vs. Germany news and score
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How the rules change for the knockout round — 3:00 p.m.
No more draws here: With the tournament advancing to the knockout rounds, if a game is tied at the end of regulation they will play two 15-minute periods.
If there’s no winner at the end of those 30 minutes, the game moves to a shootout with five attempts for each side.
Both teams also get an additional substitute for extra time.
An anonymous German soccer fan has become an online phenomenon. But is Freddy for real? — 2:45 p.m.
By Shannon Larson, Globe Staff
His weekslong road trip kicked off in Atlanta. Freddy, as the soccer fan calls himself online, said he flew in from Germany with a couple of friends in early June with at least seven tickets to World Cup matches in hand.
He had no idea what would come next.
While traveling to games, Freddy began documenting his wide-eyed fascination with small-town America on social media. He feasted on cheesy hash browns at a Waffle House in Georgia and marveled at the size of a Buc-ee’s in Alabama. He was dumbstruck that a Bass Pro Shopswas home to a shooting range and awed by the scenery of each state.
“The vibes are insane,” he posted on X while driving through Louisiana. “It’s crazy how diverse this country is.”
Within days, Freddy had become an internet phenomenon, his posts captivating an American audience that was seeing the country anew through his eyes. His follower count ballooned,hovering around 743,000 on X. Now Freddy says he’s headed to Boston to see Germany play on Monday.
Adding to the intrigue: Freddy’s identity is unknown to all but a few. He routinely obscures his face in photos with a picture of soccer legend Cristiano Ronaldo, of whom he appears to be a massive fan. That anonymity, coupled with his deft brand promotion and meteoric rise on social media, has left some doubting that Freddy is simply the lucky German fan he claims to be.
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Fans were the real losers when Norway played France — 2:30 p.m.
By Ben Volin, Globe Staff
Norway’s 4-1 loss to France on Friday in the World Cup group-stage finale for both teams in Foxborough was a disgrace, and no one wants to take any responsibility for it.
Norway manager Stale Solbakken didn’t show a trace of regret for benching 10 starters and disappointing scores of fans who paid three and four figures and crossed an ocean to attend the match, and millions of World Cup fans who were denied a marquee showdown of stars Kylian Mbappé vs. Erling Haaland.
“That’s the way it is,” Solbakken said. “We are here to proceed as long as we can. This was not a decision that took us a lot of time to get to.”
Solbakken was at least trying to do what’s best for his team. FIFA doesn’t have the same excuse.
FIFA didn’t comment about the match, but you can hear the possible response: “It’s a blind draw. There’s nothing we can do.”
Malarkey. FIFA expanded the field to 48 this year, proving it can alter the tournament when it sees fit. A tournament that generates $11 billion-$13 billion in revenue is too big to leave everything up to chance. Having an exhibition-like atmosphere in any match in this tournament is simply unacceptable.
Moving forward, FIFA needs to ensure that premier matchups such as France-Norway are played in the first or second match of the group, guaranteeing both teams play for the win and give the fans their money’s worth.
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Instead, the fans came last, which seems to be a theme with FIFA.
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