In the crucial group final, Slovakia needed to win to edge out Germany for first place in Group A, which meant a ticket to the 2026 World Cup in North America.
The Slovaks weren't even close.
Nick Woltemade headed in 1-0 in the 18th minute. Serge Gnabry rolled in 2-0 in the 29th. If it wasn't clapped and finished right there, it definitely was after Florian Wirtz and Leroy Sané did their thing a few minutes later.
Sané scored two straight goals in five minutes, both times after high-quality passes from Wirtz, and ensured that Germany had 4–0 after the first half.
First national team goal
After the break, there were two more German goals – both from Leipzig players. Ridle Baku made it 5–0 and 19-year-old Assan Ouédraogo finished by scoring his first international goal in his first international match, making it 6–0.
Slovakia will try to qualify for next year's World Cup via the spring playoff games. Sweden is also qualified for the World Cup playoff, thanks to its group victory in the Nations League last year, but will be placed in the fourth and worst draw pot.
Netherlands to the World Cup
This means that Blågult will play away in the playoff semi-finals, and will be drawn against one of the four top-ranked teams. One of them could have been Germany, if they had not managed to secure their World Cup ticket already on Monday.
The Netherlands were practically ready for the World Cup before Monday, and are now also in theory. A 4-0 home win against Lithuania was enough to win Group G ahead of Poland, who, as group runner-up, will join Sweden in the playoff.
Facts: Countries ready for the 2026 World Cup
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A total of 48 national football teams will be allowed to play in the Men's World Cup in the summer of 2026 – 34 places are booked:
Asia (8 direct places): Australia, Iran, Japan, Jordan (debutant), South Korea, Uzbekistan (debutant), Qatar, Saudi Arabia.
Africa (9): Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Ghana, Cape Verde, South Africa, Ivory Coast, Senegal.
South America (6): Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay.
North and Central America and the Caribbean (6): USA, Mexico, Canada (host nations).
Oceania (1): New Zealand.
Europe (16): England, France, Croatia, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Netherlands.
Six national teams from Asia, Africa, South America, Oceania, North and Central America and the Caribbean will compete in a playoff for two World Cup spots in March.
