Germany stormed into next year’s World Cup with a dominant 6-0 win over Slovakia, securing top spot in their group. Four first-half goals – from Nick Woltemade, Serge Gnabry, and two from Leroy Sané – put the game out of reach early, with Slovakia forced into the playoffs. Ridle Baku and 19-year-old debutant Assan Ouédraogo added late goals to complete the rout.
The Netherlands also qualified comfortably, beating Lithuania 4-0 in Amsterdam to finish atop Group G. Tijjani Reijnders opened the scoring before Cody Gakpo, Xavi Simons and Donyell Malen struck in quick succession after the break. Poland secured a playoff place with a dramatic 3-2 win over Malta thanks to Piotr Zielinski’s late goal.
Northern Ireland closed their campaign with a flat 1-0 victory against Luxembourg, Jamie Donley scoring his first international goal from the penalty spot. Though already guaranteed a playoff through their Nations League performance, failure to beat Slovakia on Friday left the match a dead rubber.
The Czech Republic, already playoff-bound, thrashed Gibraltar 6-0 with five first-half goals before Robin Hranac added a sixth after the break. Croatia topped the group after overturning a two-goal deficit to beat Montenegro 3-2.
