Matthaus blames Germany families for World Cup exit after Paraguay penalty defeat

Lothar Matthaus has blamed the presence of players’ families for Germany’s early exit from the 2026 World Cup, after Paraguay knocked them out on penalties in the round of 32 — the country’s first World Cup shootout defeat.

The former Germany captain, now a pundit for BILD, argued that family distractions undermined the squad’s concentration throughout the tournament. “The focus was simply not on the World Cup but on this free day to spend with the family,” Matthaus said, describing the trip as a “free family holiday” for some players.

Matthaus, 65, drew a direct comparison to Germany’s 1994 World Cup campaign in the United States, when the reigning champions were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Bulgaria. He captained the side in both tournaments and suggested the dynamic off the pitch was strikingly similar. “There were documentaries made about this topic in ‘94 — I don’t think it was that different this time round,” he said.

His central complaint was the speed with which families arrived. “They hadn’t even been in America for two weeks, and already their entire families were with them,” Matthaus said. He argued relatives should only have been flown in had Germany progressed further: “They could have been flown in for the quarter-finals when the team had actually accomplished something.”

Matthaus also pointed to internal friction caused by inconsistent travel arrangements. “I know that it was a topic of discussion and that one player was cross with another because he was allowed to bring his mum with him,” he said. “Another was allowed to bring his wife, then the kids were allowed to fly too.” He added that some family members travelled on the team plane while others were required to take commercial flights, a disparity that reportedly caused further unrest within the squad.

For Matthaus, the off-field issues were inseparable from what unfolded against Paraguay. “While there’s a lot that needs to be processed about what happened on the pitch, what happened off the pitch also needs to be a topic of discussion,” he said, insisting that family was “more important for many of the players than what took place on the football pitch”.

Germany’s exit marks a significant low point for a nation that reached the final of Euro 2024, and the recriminations from one of the country’s most prominent football voices are likely to intensify the debate around the squad’s preparation and culture heading into the next cycle.