Germany confirmed their place at next year’s World Cup with a dominant 6-0 win over Slovakia, finishing top of their group and sending their opponents into the playoffs. Nick Woltemade opened the scoring, followed by goals from Serge Gnabry and a first-half brace from Leroy Sané, both assisted by Florian Wirtz. After halftime, Ridle Baku and teenager Assan Ouédraogo added to the rout, the latter becoming Germany’s youngest-ever scorer on his debut at 19.
The Netherlands also qualified comfortably, beating Lithuania 4-0 in Amsterdam to top Group G. Goals from Tijjani Reijnders, Cody Gakpo, Xavi Simons and Donyell Malen sealed the victory, with the Dutch finishing three points ahead of Poland.
Poland earned a dramatic 3-2 win over Malta to secure a playoff place, while Northern Ireland ended their campaign with a 1-0 win against Luxembourg thanks to Jamie Donley’s first international goal.
The Czech Republic, already guaranteed a playoff, crushed Gibraltar 6-0 with five first-half goals before Robin Hranac added a sixth after the break. Croatia topped their group after a comeback 3-2 win over Montenegro.
