Germany have done it. They have officially qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico after a comprehensive 6-0 routing over Slovakia at the RedBull Arena in Leipzig.
The Germans were far and away the better side on the night and, quite arguably, could have sent Slovakia packing by more than a six-goal margin, as Julian Nagelsmann’s Die Mannschaft side were exceptionally better than they were for their lackluster 2-0 win at Luxembourg last week.
A brace from Galatasaray’s Leroy Sané and goals from Newcastle United’s Nick Woltemade, Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry, RB Leipzig’s Ridle Baku, and Leipzig’s Assan Ouédraogo rounded out the scoring for what looked to be a well-oiled German machine. Of all six of Germany’s World Cup qualifiers, this was, without a doubt, their strongest performance — it was much needed after their Luxembourg performance came under a great deal of criticism.
Joshua Kimmich and Nico Schlotterbeck made returns to the starting lineup for the win over Slovakia, and after the match, the Bayern midfielder had plenty of praise for how Nagelsmann had the squad prepared to finish the job and book their place at next summer’s World Cup finals. “We knew that if we play at our top level, we’d win today. The coach prepared us very well and found the right words. It was a very good game. Everyone knew what was at stake. I told the guys that the World Cup is the biggest competition a player can play. I’m happy with the way we won. Also compliments to our physios and doctors who made sure I was ready for the game,” Kimmich enthused, having just made his way back from an ankle injury that kept him out of the squad in Luxembourg (via @iMiaSanMia).
It would be difficult to pin the differences in performance between Luxembourg and Slovakia on just Kimmich and Schlotterbeck coming back into the lineup for the latter, but they were far better in Leipzig than they were in Luxembourg City. They dominated every aspect of the match, stayed organized in all thirds of the pitch, and never took their foot off the gas with the constant leads that they maintained.
