A Thrashing Six-Goal Victory Sends Germany to the World Cup

Germany settled their decisive showdown with Slovakia and qualified for the 2026 FIFA World Cup with a sweeping 6-0 victory over their visitors in the final round of the European qualifiers.

The Germans needed only a draw to secure top spot and the direct qualification ticket from Group A, but they delivered the perfect response to their 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture on Matchday 1, achieving their biggest win since beating Bosnia 7-0 in November 2024 in the UEFA Nations League.

Germany will participate in the World Cup finals for the 21st time in their history out of 23 editions, producing a dominant attacking display from the start, led by the offensive quartet Nick Woltemade, Florian Wirtz, Serge Gnabry, and Leroy Sané.

Germany opened the scoring in the 18th minute through the Woltemade, who headed in a cross from captain Joshua Kimmich following a corner kick, before Gnabry added the second after a brilliant team move and an assist from his Bayern Munich teammate Leon Goretzka (29).

From a superb pass by Wirtz behind the defense, Sané scored the third goal one-on-one (36), then added the fourth with another assist from the outstanding Wirtz (41).

The substitutes also played their part in the second half, as right-back Ridle Baku netted the fifth just minutes after coming on for Kimmich, finishing a pass from Gnabry (67). Another substitute, Assan Ouédraogo, added the sixth with a clever back-heel assist from Sané (79).

A Big Win Sends the Netherlands Through As Well

The Dutch national team clinched top spot in Group G — and the direct qualification ticket to the finals for the 12th time in their history — after routing Lithuania 4-0 in Amsterdam.

Tijjani Reijnders (16), Cody Gakpo (58, penalty), Xavi Simons (60), and Donyell Malen (62) scored the goals, allowing the “Oranje” to secure first place with 20 points, three ahead of Poland, who narrowly beat hosts Malta 3-2.

The Netherlands needed only a draw to join the qualified teams for the global showpiece, whose final they have reached three times: 1974 against West Germany, 1978 against Argentina, and 2010 against Spain.

In the group’s other match, Poland twice took the lead against Malta through captain Robert Lewandowski (32) and Pawel Wszołek (59), but the hosts equalized twice via Irvin Cardona (36) and Teddy Teuma (68), before Piotr Zieliński snatched the winning goal five minutes from full time.

In Group L, and in two matches of no influence on qualification, Croatia — already guaranteed top spot and a World Cup berth — overturned a two-goal deficit to beat hosts Montenegro 3-2 thanks to an 87th-minute strike from Nikola Vlašić, while Czechia, who finished second, crushed lowly Gibraltar 6-0.