“We feel used and cheated”. Thomas Muller criticizes VAR after Germany’s World Cup disappointment | Football News:

Germany’s Jonathan Tah (4) headed in a goal that was disqualified after a VAR review. (AP Photo)

Thomas Muller gave a scathing assessment of VAR after Germany suffered a shock Round of 32 exit in FIFA World Cup 2026, with a controversial decision overturning Jonathan Tah’s extra-time goal that proved decisive in a dramatic defeat to Paraguay.Speaking to German broadcaster Magenta TV after the match, Muller questioned the intervention that canceled out what Germany believed to be a victory in the 101st minute of added time.“I honestly don’t know what the VAR looked at. What is that called? From everything I saw, Germany scored a perfectly legitimate goal. Jonathan Tah attacked the ball well, won it fairly and finished with authority. That’s football. That should never have been taken,” Muller said.Germany began to celebrate when Tah headed home from a corner, only for referee Jalal Jayed to be ordered to review the incident after a VAR check. According to reports, the goal was disallowed due to an alleged foul by defender Waldemar Anton on Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill during the build-up.Muller, however, was not convinced by the decision and suggested that Germany was unfairly treated at a crucial moment.“We, the Germans, feel used and cheated. It’s wrong. It’s the robbery of the day on the biggest football stage,” he said. “If that is a foul, then football has completely lost its consistency because we have seen stronger challenges allowed all tournament. The referee and VAR are looking for something that is not there.”

“A moment erased”. Muller is sad that the drama of the World Cup is missing

For Muller, the disappointment went beyond the result, pointing to what he described as the emotional impact on the players who believed they had won the match.“You work your whole life to play in a World Cup, you fight for every ball, you finally score what could be the victory, and then someone sitting in a room hundreds of meters away decides to erase that moment,” he said. “That’s sad for every player on that pitch.”Germany eventually lost the contest on penalties after the match was 1-1 after extra time, with Paraguay converting their chances as Germany missed three spot-kicks in a tense shootout.Muller added that even though he receives defeat in the sport, he finds it difficult to accept the way it is.“I can accept losing to a better team. I can accept the missed chances. But I can’t accept that a perfectly good goal was taken because of an interpretation that no one understood.

Paraguay stunned Germany as the tournament unfolded

The defeat marked Germany’s first World Cup exit in the modern era, while Paraguay progressed to the Round of 16 after one of the biggest shocks of the tournament.The South American side, ranked 41st in the world compared to 10th Germany, held their nerve in the shootout after surviving extra time after a disallowed Tah goal.The result adds to a growing list of VAR-related controversies at major tournaments and is likely to intensify the debate about the technology’s role in decisive knockout moments.