2026 World Cup Qualifiers: Germany crushes Slovakia and secures its place

Germany qualified for the 2026 World Cup After a dominant 6-0 victory against Slovakia on Monday night in Leipzig, the Netherlands also qualified for the North American World Cup, while Slovakia, Poland, and the Czech Republic will have to go through the playoffs.

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A resounding qualification for the Mannschaft

The four-time world champions, Germany (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014), secured their place at the 2026 World Cup with a strong finish to their qualifying campaign. This qualification will allow them to participate in their 21st World Cup finals in 23 editions, marking their 19th consecutive appearance at a World Cup.

An attacking festival in Leipzig

The German team delivered their best performance of the qualifiers with six different goalscorers:

• Nick Woltemade (18th)
• Serge Gnabry (29th)
• Leroy Sané (36th, 41st)
• Ridle Baku (67th)
• Assan Ouédraogo (79th minute)

This performance erases the memory of the surprise defeat suffered in Bratislava last September (2-0), which opened these qualifiers. Joshua Kimmich's teammates then bounced back with victories against Northern Ireland (3-1, 1-0) and Luxembourg (4-0, 2-0).

The Netherlands without trembling

The Oranje also secured their place at the United States, Canada, and Mexico by defeating Lithuania 4-0 in Amsterdam. Three-time finalists (1974, 1978, 2010), the Dutch will participate in their 12th World Cup after finishing top of Group G.

Several nations are headed for the dams

Slovakia, the first playoff entrant

Despite their initial victory against Germany, Slovakia will have to play in the European playoffs at the end of March. Two wins separate them from their second World Cup appearance after 2010.

Poland misses the boat

The Poles, winners in Malta (3-2), finished second in Group G behind the Netherlands and will join the playoffs next March.

Czechia assures

In Group L, the Czechs crushed Gibraltar (6-0) to take second place behind Croatia and secure their ticket to the playoffs.

Croatia snatches qualification in a hard-fought battle

The 2018 World Cup runners-up and third-place finishers in Qatar in 2022 topped Group L, but not without a scare. Trailing 2-0 in Montenegro, the Croatians turned the game around thanks to goals from Perisic (penalty, 37th minute), Jakic (73rd minute), and Vlasic (87th minute) to win 3-2.

Next event: the European playoffs will take place at the end of March 2025 to determine the last European qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.