Joshua Kimmich rips into Germany team in most brutally honest interview you'll see after World Cup exit

Germany "fully deserved" to be eliminated from the World Cup, according to captain Joshua Kimmich, who pulled no punches following their shock penalty shoot-out defeat to Paraguay.

For the third consecutive World Cup campaign, Germany have failed to reach the round of 16 stage.

This time around, they lost to underdogs Paraguay, who qualified as one of the best third-placed teams in the group stage and were 41st in the FIFA world rankings at the start of this summer's tournament.

In fact, Gustavo Alfaro's side averaged just 0.78 goals per game during qualifying, the joint-lowest of any team to reach the finals, but they managed to scrape through on Monday thanks, in part, to Germany's struggles.

As well as lacking any real threat going forward, they looked shaky at the back. To sum up their defensive woes, Germany have now conceded in 10 consecutive World Cup matches, the longest run in their history.

Their last clean sheet came during the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina.

Kai Havertz managed to cancel out Julio Enciso's opener, but Germany failed to put away their chances before Paraguay went on to secure a 4-3 win on penalties.

Speaking in the mixed zone after the full-time whistle, a devastated Joshua Kimmich gave a frank assessment of their World Cup campaign.

“It feels awful,” Kimmich said. "We didn’t play well against any opponent. On three occasions we had major problems against teams that are not world-class. That’s a fact. We fully deserved to be eliminated."

Kimmich also described it as the "hardest day" of his career.

"Awful. It does not feel good," he said, as per NDTV. "Of course, as I said earlier, as a child, when you watched the national team, it was always the semi-finals, finals, World Champions-always great successes.

"That really shaped you, to be passionate about the national team, and that is something you want to give and offer to the children and the people back home. Once again, we failed to spark any euphoria, to be a team on the pitch that people can identify with, because in the end, it is only about success and not about everything being rosy.

"It is also true that in these eight years, you naturally grow into your role and your responsibility. That is why it is even more significant to be knocked out as captain, when you carry a great responsibility for the group.

"I feel that responsibility, and we should all generally feel that responsibility-those of us who were on the pitch-and not look to blame someone else. In the end, we messed it up again because we could not beat the opponent," added Kimmich.

Kai Havertz sums up Germany display in post-match interview

Kimmich wasn't the only player to speak about Germany's failure. Kai Havertz, who scored the equaliser but missed a huge chance to win the game in normal time, said the players "need to take a long hard look" at themselves.

"I’m speechless," said Havertz. "My second World Cup, and we’ve messed up for the second time."

"The last few tournaments were a disaster," he added. "The only thing I can say is I’m sorry. We players need to take a long hard look at ourselves. We’re playing for a huge country with a rich football history."