Germany booked their place at next year’s World Cup in emphatic style, smashing Slovakia 6-0 in their final qualifier. Four first-half goals – from Nick Woltemade, Serge Gnabry, and a Leroy Sané brace – overwhelmed Slovakia, who now drop into the March playoffs. Second-half strikes from Ridle Baku and Assan Ouédraogo, who became Germany’s youngest ever scorer at 19, completed the rout.
The Netherlands also secured qualification with a dominant 4-0 victory over Lithuania. Tijjani Reijnders opened the scoring before Cody Gakpo, Xavi Simons and Donyell Malen added second-half goals to seal top spot in Group G, three points ahead of Poland.
Poland kept their hopes alive with a 3-2 win in Malta thanks to late drama from Piotr Zielinski, clinching a playoff place. Robert Lewandowski and Pawel Wszolek also scored for the visitors.
Northern Ireland finished their Group A campaign with a 1-0 win over Luxembourg, courtesy of Jamie Donley’s first international goal from the penalty spot, though their playoff place was already secured through last year’s Nations League.
The Czech Republic cruised past Gibraltar 6-0, with five first-half goals and a sixth from Robin Hranac after the break, confirming second place behind Croatia. Croatia mounted a comeback of their own, overturning a 2-0 deficit to beat Montenegro 3-2.
