Julian Nagelsmann calls Jonathan Tah's disallowed Germany goal a 'scandal' & loses temper with reporter after World Cup defeat to Paraguay

Germany's World Cup campaign ended in the last 32 after a 4-3 penalty shootout defeat to Paraguay following a 1-1 draw after extra time. The result piled further pressure on Nagelsmann after an early exit from the tournament.

The defining moment came in extra time when Tah appeared to have scored, only for VAR to rule out the goal after determining that Waldemar Anton had fouled Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill in the build-up. Nagelsmann strongly disagreed with the decision, describing it as a "scandal".

Nagelsmann addressed the controversial decision during a post-match interview with ZDF after speaking to his players. While he acknowledged Germany's shortcomings, he insisted the decision to disallow Tah's goal was a major error.

"We had a very slow build-up play; it took ages to shift it from wing to wing," Nagelsmann explained. "At some point, we switched to a sort of brute-force approach, and then, yes, it was important to make the balls sharp into the box.

"At some point, I think we had six or seven players above 6ft 2in on the pitch too and had 11 or 12 corners. We then score a goal from the latter which is a scandal as the referee blows his whistle to disallow it. I have no idea what he saw there. It's truly a joke.

"But that's how it is, it's pointless to dwell on. We still have to settle and handle the game beforehand, and handle it differently, and we didn't manage to do that."

After being shown a replay during the interview, Nagelsmann became even more critical of the decision, saying: "I'm seeing it again right now. It's not just a scandal, it's an absolute scandal. That is not even remotely a foul play."

The interview became increasingly tense when Nagelsmann was repeatedly asked about Germany's decline after opening the tournament with a 7-1 victory over Curacao. As questions continued to focus on his side's tactical shortcomings, the Germany boss visibly lost patience.

"Yes, as I already said, our build-up play today was simply too slow," he said. "Yes, I just told you. The build-up play was too slow. I've already said that three times now."

Germany's World Cup campaign is over, leaving Nagelsmann and his squad with a lengthy period of reflection after an unexpected last-32 exit. The focus will be on assessing both the controversial elimination and the performances that saw one of the tournament favourites fail to progress beyond the opening knockout round.