FIFA World Cup 2026: “We feel used and cheated” Thomas Muller slams VAR after Germany exit

Berlin [Germany], June 30 (ANI): Thomas Muller, while speaking to German broadcaster Magenta TV, slammed the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) after Jonathan Tah's extra-time goal was disallowed in Germany's dramatic Round of 32 defeat to Paraguay at the FIFA World Cup 2026.
A controversial VAR decision that ruled out Germany's potential extra-time winner proved decisive as Paraguay stunned four-time champions Germany in a penalty shootout to book their place in the Round of 16, The Athletic reported.
Germany believed they had secured the win in the 101st minute when Jonathan Tah headed home from a corner. However, after German players celebrated the goal, referee Jalal Jayed of Morocco was instructed to review the incident on the pitch-side monitor following a VAR intervention, according to The Athletic.
After the incident, speaking to German broadcaster Magenta TV after the match, Muller questioned the decision to overturn what he believed was a legitimate goal, arguing that the intervention cost Germany a place in the Round of 16.
"I honestly don't know what VAR is looking at anymore. What a call is that? The goalkeeper must be the luckiest player on the pitch because, from everything I've seen, Germany have scored a perfectly legitimate goal. Jonathan Tah attacked the ball brilliantly, won it fairly and finished with authority. That's football. That should never have been taken away," Muller said.
The goal, scored by Tah in the 101st minute of extra time, was overturned after a VAR review determined that Germany defender Waldemar Anton had impeded Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill during the build-up.
Muller said Germany felt unfairly treated 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's a foul, then football has completely lost its consistency because we've seen far stronger challenges allowed all tournament. The referee and VAR have searched for something that simply isn't there," he said.
The former footballer also expressed sympathy for the players, saying the decision 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 could 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's heartbreaking for every player on that pitch," Muller told the German broadcaster.
He added that while defeats are part of football, he could not accept losing because of what he described as 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've been punished by technology instead of protected by it," Muller said.
The defeat marked Germany's earliest exit from the FIFA World Cup 2026, while Paraguay progressed to the Round of 16 after a memorable night defined by VAR controversy, defensive resilience and clinical finishing from the penalty spot.
It was also only their second defeat on penalties at a major international tournament, the first coming against Czechoslovakia in the 1976 UEFA European Championship final (5-3), as per OptaJoe.
The result also ranks among the biggest knockout upsets in modern World Cup history. Germany entered the tournament ranked 10th in the FIFA World Rankings, while Paraguay were 41st, a gap of 31 places.
Since 1994, only three World Cup knockout eliminations have featured a larger rankings disparity: Spain's defeat to Russia in 2018 (60 places), Italy's loss to South Korea in 2002 (34 places), and Spain's quarter-final exit to South Korea in 2002 (32 places). (ANI)