Nick Woltemade Ruined his Big World Cup Moment and As a Forest Fan I'm Absolutely Delighted

My Simple and Very Petty Reason for Hatewatching Nick Woltemade

I like to think that I'm not a particularly petty football fan, or indeed a Nottingham Forest fan on closer inspection. However, when Nick Woltemade strode up to the spot to take on a pressure penalty for Germany in their shootout loss to Paraguay at the World Cup, I was hoping with everything that I had that he in particular would miss his chance.

I don't even dislike Woltemade. I'd go as far as I can in neutral terms to call him 'quite good', and I do think that he has been atrociously mis-used in his maiden Premier League season by Eddie Howe. However, one tiny, insignificant moment in his time in England so far was making me wish the (sporting) worst on him during the crunch match with Paraguay last night.

Woltemade it’s time. pic.twitter.com/B7XvCBOzE2

— Hater Central (@TheHateCentral) June 29, 2026

He scored a penalty against Nottingham Forest.

I know, pathetic aren't I?

Well, it was less to do with the fact that he scored against us - almost everyone in the Premier League and at the World Cup would be on my hatewatch list if that was my mandatory qualifying factor for entry - but more the response that came from the watching world afterwards.

Woltemessy

This was back toward the start of the season when my beloved Forest, in the midst of some pretty turbulent managerial troubles, headed up north to take on the Geordies in what could have been a pretty captivating contest. In that we had two teams here who's fans both distinctly despised their own clubs at the time.

Manchester City's new £116m-man Elliot Anderson hauled down Bruno Guimaraes with about five minutes to go, and up stepped the German striker to nestle a hell of a hit as far into the top-left corner as he could. Matz Sels had no chance, and it sealed a 2-0 win for Newcastle.

Out of 10, rate this Woltemade penalty? 🤯🔥pic.twitter.com/LKi1avs0DP

— Goals Side (@goalsside) March 2, 2026

Now, I quite like Newcastle and their fans. It's a shame to see that one bad transfer window has left them a little bit fucked, in all truth, whilst the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United can replace their £60m flops with more £70m flops with every passing window. But the response to the penalty really irked me from the neutrals of the world.

I couldn't move on social media for this bloody video of Woltemade hitting the top corner which, even by his own admission, was almost a complete accident. He'd got way too far under the ball as intended and only a stroke of luck prevented it from flying a mile and a half over the bar and into the St James' Park stands. But that wouldn't be the reaction of the neutral reporting venues of the world. Oh, no. To them, Woltemade had just netted the pen of all pens and hence forth every knee should sink and every tongue confess him as a master penalty taker. Give over.

And it went on for weeks. The penalty was scored in October, so why was I still seeing videos of the fecking thing in March of the following year?! It's like the Boxing Day results of 1963 or that dreadful comedian who does a 'hilarious' slow-mo goal impression. Just let it pass!

Now I'm salty, of course, but not at the bequest of Newcastle themselves. But this penalty being constantly re-shared and re-hashed over and over and over again by Elon Musk's army of engagement-farming bot accounts had seriously driven me up the wall. And all over something that I didn't care much in the slightest for at the time of the goal and fixture. Go figure.

Vindication (Though Pointlessly)

So there I was in the late stages of the evening watching Germany vs Paraguay. A tense game, for sure, but one marked by a Julio Enciso header and another from Kai Havertz in response that had seen the heavy underdogs from South America run the game all the way to a penalty shootout. And what a shootout it was.

Orlando Gill kept out the first shot of the evening from already-scored Havertz, before every subsequent taker for the next few scored their respective effort with aplomb. And then came Woltemade, and I sat up in my chair just a little bit.

I have never felt more at peace in my life than I do right now https://t.co/2ffC4VbZwl

— JK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@febbo93) June 29, 2026

I witnessed a flashback of every stupid bot farm on X or elsewhere that had heralded his penalty against us as the pen to end all pens. I remembered all of our UK outlets sharing the video of his effort around the socials for weeks on end, to be endlessly re-hashed a million times over for months. I remembered very vividly stating before that his penalty, whilst easy on the eye, was a hell of a mis-kick and his abilities from the spot were being grossly overrated. And then, suddenly, I was willing the big man to miss. And, thanks to my new friend Gill, miss he did.

Antonio Sanabria messed the chance of instant gratification up afterwards and a pair of Manuel Neuer saves brought Germany back from the dead, but a comedically poor attempt from Jonathan Tah allowed Jose Canale to win the day for Paraguay.

So, Woltemade. Apologies for the hate-watch but you must understand - Forest fans didn't want you to miss.

We needed you to miss.