FOOTBALL – Germany secured a place at next year’s World Cup by crushing Slovakia 6-0 in their final qualifier last night, pummeling them into submission with four goals in the first half, and sending their opponents into a playoff in March.
The four-time world champions, who crashed out in the first round of the last two editions of the World Cup, finished top of their group on 15 points, with the Slovaks second on 12.
The Germans, needing a draw or a win to secure top spot, left nothing to chance and shot out of the blocks to take control early. Unmarked Nick Woltemade headed in for the lead in the 18th minute with his fourth consecutive goal in the last three matches for Germany.
Serge Gnabry should have doubled it when he charged into the box but his low shot was blocked by Slovakia keeper Martin Dubravka in the 25th. Gnabry made amends four minutes later as he latched onto a perfect Leon Goretzka pass to make it 2-0.
An equally quick move saw Florian Wirtz put Leroy Sane through in the 36th to curl his shot past Dubravka and put the game to bed before Wirtz delivered another assist for the winger to bag his second goal of the evening five minutes later.
Slovakia, who had beaten Germany in Bratislava in September, had no answer to the hosts’ relentless pressure.
Meanwhile, three-times runners-up the Netherlands secured their berth at the 2026 finals with an easy 4-0 home victory over Lithuania, finishing top of Group G.
The victory margin could have been even bigger, such was the Dutch dominance, but the result ensured they finished three points clear of second-placed Poland.
Tijjani Reijnders put the Netherlands 1-0 ahead at halftime before the hosts scored a rapid trio of goals in the second period from Cody Gakpo, Xavi Simons, and Donyell Malen.
The unbeaten Netherlands finished on 20 points, with Poland on 17 after they scraped a 3-2 win away to Malta.
Reijnders opened the scoring in the 16th minute as he turned sharply to finish off a pass from Frenkie de Jong.
He almost had a second goal on the half-hour mark, bursting through the middle and hitting the post with a curling right-foot effort.
Three goals in a four-minute spell started fortuitously in the 58th minute when Gakpo converted a penalty awarded after a VAR check showed Artemijus Tutyskinas touched the ball with his fingertip as he went up in an aerial duel with Matthijs de Ligt.
Simons thrashed home the third goal on the hour mark, jockeying past two defenders before a powerful strike gave goalkeeper Edvinas Gertmonas no chance.
Two minutes after that, Malen broke from the halfway line on the counter-attack and showed a swift turn of speed to outsprint the chasing defenders and hammer home with his left foot.
The Czech Republic dismantled Gibraltar in their final qualifier, cruising to a 6-0 win and a second-place finish in Group L that brings a playoff spot for next year’s tournament.
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