{"id":34151,"date":"2025-11-17T20:20:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:20:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=34151"},"modified":"2025-11-17T20:20:38","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T20:20:38","slug":"germany-v-slovakia-northern-ireland-v-luxembourg-and-more-world-cup-2026-qualifying-live-world-cup-2026-qualifiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=34151","title":{"rendered":"Germany v Slovakia, Northern Ireland v Luxembourg, and more: World Cup 2026 qualifying \u2013 live | World Cup 2026 qualifiers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Back in Amsterdam, <\/strong>Reijnders charges forward has men either side \u2026 and opts to shoot, his trivela hitting the far post, two-thirds of the way up.<\/p>\n

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GOAL! Germany 2-0 Slovakia (Gnabry 29)<\/h2>\n

This is so simple. A ball into Goretzka, who slides between two defenders into the box, and Gnabry easily rolls into the bottom right. Germany are going to the World Cup! Who knew?!<\/p>\n

<\/span>Germany’s Serge Gnabry with the second goal. <\/span> Photograph: Lisi Niesner\/ReutersShare<\/p>\n

Updated at\u00a015.19 EST<\/p>\n

Luxembourg counter in Belfast and Sinani drills fresh air right into the corner, <\/strong>then Olesen sweeps wide from 20 yards.<\/p>\n

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Slovakia ought to equalise! <\/strong>A shot from the edge is blocked, the ball is bundled through to Durix, and he pokes goalward from seven yards \u2026 but Baumann tips around the post then, from the corner, the clearance sits up for Duric, who strikes across it \u2026 and it flies just over the top.<\/p>\n

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GOAL! Czechia 2-0 Gibraltar (Chory 18)<\/h2>\n

A cross from the right, bouncing up, and a well controlled, though lonely finish.<\/p>\n

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GOAL! Montenegro 2-0 Croatia (Kristovic 17)<\/h2>\n

A neat turn on the edge and a low finish, that the keeper should probably keep out.<\/p>\n

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GOAL! Germany 1-0 Slovakia (Woltemade 18)<\/h2>\n

A corner is only half-cleared and when Kimmich sends the ball back in from the opposite flank, Woltemade is along in the six=yard box to head home. He\u2019s now scored Germany\u2019s last four goals.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Free as a bird in the box Woltemade of Germany rises to head Germany ahead .<\/span> Photograph: Maja Hitij\/Getty ImagesShare<\/p>\n

Updated at\u00a015.11 EST<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland have just had a goal ruled out for offside<\/strong>, Galbraith going too early before crossing for Donley.<\/p>\n

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Ruud Gullit scored for Netherlands in their ill-fated qualifying campaign for Euro \u201884. <\/strong>I\u2019d not have guessed he made his international debut in 1981. And what a finish it was!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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GOAL! Netherlands 1-0 Lithuania (Reijnders 16)<\/h2>\n

Apoor pass out is seized upon by De Jong, whose tackle is also a pass, putting Reijnders in, and he punches an outswinging finish high into the net.<\/p>\n

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In Amsterdam, <\/strong>Gakpo heads too close to the keeper after De Jong finds him with a cunning dink, then Malen\u2019s low shot is saved.<\/p>\n

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Northern Ireland are putting it on Luxembourg, <\/strong>Galbraith driving them forward; they could really do with a centre-forward.<\/p>\n

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GOAL! Czechia 1-0 Gibraltar (Doudera 5)<\/h2>\n

A man over down the right and a low finish.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Take that, not the band. <\/span> Photograph: David W \u010cern\u00fd\/ReutersShare<\/p>\n

Updated at\u00a015.07 EST<\/p>\n

In Leipzig, <\/strong>Germany have Slovakia under pressure, Schlotterbeck heading over from a corner. I\u2019m sure Slovakia plan to sit back, looking to strike on the break.<\/p>\n

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Email! <\/strong>\u201cThe Dutch should not be too cocky about their superior goal difference,\u201d chides Malc Shuttleworth. \u201cI was living in Amsterdam in 1983 when the Spanish won by ELEVEN GOALS to go to the Euro \u201884 finals at the Dutch\u2019s expense.\u201d<\/p>\n

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GOAL! Montengro 1-0 Croatia (Osmajic 3)<\/h2>\n

Terrible defending under a high ball allows Osmajic to hare forward and drill home a low finish.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m eager to see how Germany use Nick Woltemade. <\/strong>He\u2019s a lovely footballer but no threat in behind \u2013 he reminds me a little of Dimitar Berbatov. Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sane, though, might be able to play off him \u2013 I think it\u2019s the former on the right and latter 0on the left, perhaps for that reason.<\/p>\n

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Aaaand away we go. <\/strong><\/p>\n

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At Windsor Park. there\u2019s a minute\u2019s applause for George Best, who died 20 years ago next week. <\/strong>The best player to come out of the British Isles? I didn\u2019t see him, obviously, but from what I know, it isn\u2019t even close. The goals here \u2013 against Gordon Banks, too \u2013 deserve the glorious commentary they get.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Highlights of that match here:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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Updated at\u00a014.44 EST<\/p>\n

Germany have only lost four World Cup qualifiers in their entire history. <\/strong>That is ridiculous \u2013 though it\u2019s worth noting one of those reverses came against tonight\u2019s opposition earlier in the group.<\/p>\n

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Out come our various teams\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A question: <\/strong>can Germany or the Netherlands win the World Cup? My sense is no, not a chance; the winner will come from Spain, France, England, Brazil, Argentina, with it being hard to look past the first of those. Of course tonight\u2019s big dogs could beat any of them in a one-off, but I can\u2019t see them winning four knockout matches. They don\u2019t have the gamebreakers or options of the best, nor anyone transcendental who can render everything but them irrelevant.<\/p>\n

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Northern Ireland are, as we said, into the playoffs via the Nations League, <\/strong>but will want to build momentum going into that tonight. They fought hard against Slovakia, only to concede a winner in injury time, but they did beat the same opposition at home and, in Ethan Galbraith, have a very modern midfielder doing brillaintly at Swansea.<\/p>\n

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Looking at the Netherlands side, Matthijs de Ligt isn\u2019t just back in the squad but back in the team. <\/strong>He\u2019s earned that with his performances this season, but there\u2019s not much recovery pace between him and Virgil van Dijk, nor does he have the safety in numbers provided by three centre-backs and Casemiro sat in front.<\/p>\n

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Slovakia aren\u2019t the same without the recently retired totem \u2013 and now assistant manager \u2013 <\/strong>Marek Hamsik. It\u2019s hard to see how they can get after Germany, but Napoli\u2019s Stan Lobota and Atleti\u2019s David Hancko are useful; perhaps David Strelec of Boro can save the day. Otherwise, Leo Sauer, currently with Feyenoord, was excellent when the sides met in Bratislava.<\/p>\n

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So, what\u2019s interesting? <\/strong>I\u2019m looking forward to seeing how Germany do in midfield; I\u2019ve always enjoyed Leon Goretzka, though he\u2019s past his best now, but alongside him, Pavlovic is already extremely good with plenty of scope to get better. I am, of course, also keen to see how Florian Wirtz gets on \u2013 the pace of international football might suit him better than that of the Prem.<\/p>\n

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Group L teams<\/h2>\n

Montenegro (4-4-2): <\/strong>Nikic; Vesovic, Tuci, Rubezic, Marusic; Jankovic, Loncar, Bulatovic, Osmajic; Jovetic, Krstovic. Subs: <\/strong>Popovic, Petkovic, Milic, Radunovic, Sipcic, Simun, Vukotic, Brnovic, Perovic, Adzic, Kostic, Djukanovic.<\/p>\n

Croatia (4-2-3-1): <\/strong>Livakovic; Jakic, Sutalo, Caleta-car, Gvardiol; Perisic, Moro, Vlasic, Mario Pasalic, Ivanovic; Matanovic. Subs: <\/strong>Pandur, Stanisic, Pongracic, Erlic, Modric, Sucic, Fruk, Pasalic, Kramaric, Musa, Orsic.<\/p>\n

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Czechia (4-2-3-1): <\/strong>Kovar; Coufal, Hranac, Zeleny, Jurasek; Beran, Soucek; Doudera, Schick, Karabec; Chory. Subs: <\/strong>Jedlicka, Markovic, Chaloupek, Rynes, Sadilek, Cerv, Hellebrand, Danek, Ladra, Sejk, Chytil.<\/p>\n

Gibraltar (4-3-3): <\/strong>Hankins; Olivero, Lopes, Mauro, Jolley; Ronan, Pozo, Torilla; Scanlon, Bartolo, Del R\u00edo. Subs: <\/strong>Banda, Lopez, McClafferty, Mouelhi, Bent, Perera, Vinet, Morgan, Borge, Jessop.<\/p>\n

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Group G teams<\/h2>\n

Netherlands (4-3-3): <\/strong>Verbruggen; Timber J, De Ligt, Van Dijk, Ak\u00e9; Reinjders, De Jong; Simons, Malen, Gakpo; Depay. Subs: <\/strong>Roefs, Flekken, Geertruida, Van de Ven, Gravenberch, Timber Q, Schouten, Valente, Emegha, Lang.<\/p>\n

Lithuania (5-3-2):<\/strong> Gertmonas; Tutyskinas, Armalas, Utkus; Sirvys, Gineitis, Vorobjovas, Sirgedas, Lasickas; Cernych, Kalinauskas. Subs: <\/strong>Svedkauskas, Barktus, Olberkis, Beneta, Upstas, Lekiatus, Micevicius, Simkus, Golubickas, Burba, Paulauskas, Dubickas.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Malta (4-2-3-1): <\/strong>Bonello; Muscat, Mentz, Shaw, Camenzuli; Satariano, Guillaumier; J.Mbong, Teuma, Chouaref; Cardona. Subs: <\/strong>Debono, Al-Tumi, Borg, Pepe, Beerman, Overend, Grech, Paiber, Mbong, Zammit, Buhagiar, Corbalan,<\/p>\n

Poland (5-4-1): <\/strong>Dragowski; Wszolek, Kedziora, Kiwior, Wisnieski, Skoras; Kaminski, Slisz, Zielinski, Zalewski; Lewandowski. Subs: <\/strong>Kochalski, Grabara, Cash, Ziolkowski, Szczesniak, Bereszynski, Kapustka, Grosicki, Rozga, Kozlowski, Swiderski, Buksa.<\/p>\n

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Group A teams<\/h2>\n

Germany (4-2-3-1): <\/strong>Baumann; Kimmich, Tah, Schlotterbeck, Raum; Pavlovi\u0107, Goretzka; Gnabry, Wirtz, San\u00e9; Woltemade. Subs: <\/strong>Schneller, Dahmen, Thiaw, Anton, Brown, Baku, Ouedraogo, Nmecha, Schade, Leweling, Burkardt, Adeyemi.<\/p>\n

Slovakia (4-3-3): <\/strong>D\u00fabravka; Gy\u00f6mb\u00e9r, Skriniar, Obert, Hancko; Bero, Lobotka, Sauer; Duris, Strelec, Duda. Subs:<\/strong> Pekar\u00edk, Schranz, Satka, Hrosovsky, Vavro, Haraslin, Benes, Rod\u00e1k, Takac, Bo\u017een\u00edk, Bobcek, Rigo.<\/p>\n

**<\/p>\n

Northern Ireland (3-5-2): Hazard<\/strong>, Brown, McNair, McConville; Bradley, Lewis, Galbraith, Lyons, McDonnell; Donley, Price. Subs:<\/strong> Clarke, Southwood, Toal, Johnson, Devlin, Devenny, McCausland, Kelly, Marshall, Charles, Smyth, Magennis.<\/p>\n

Luxembourg (4-3-3)<\/strong>: Moris; Jans, Carlson, Korac, Martins M; Barreiro, Olesen, Martins C; Dardari, Thill, Sinani. Subs: <\/strong>Pereira, Fox, Veiga, Selimovic, Dzogovic, Mustafic, Moreira, Thill, Embal\u00f3, Curci, Avdusinovic, Muratovic.<\/p>\n

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Updated at\u00a014.19 EST<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s have a look at some teams\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Preamble<\/h2>\n

As we well know, these days World Cup qualifiers are designed to deprive us of the good stuff: heartbreak, horror, devastation, desolation, regret, pain, agony, embarrassment, humiliation and so on. Sadly, the best we can do tonight is irritating inconvenience, but in these straitened times, we\u2019ll absolutely take it.<\/p>\n

Our major intrigue comes in Group A, where Germany take on Slovakia in Leipzig. The two sides are level on points and confirmed as the top two finishers with Julian Nagelsmann\u2019s mannschaft, ahead on goal difference, needing to avoid defeat to ensure automatic qualification. If they are beaten, they will move into the playoffs with the visitors advancing \u2013 and we\u2019ll also have a quarter of an an eye on Northern Ireland, into the playoffs via the Nations League, against Luxembourg.<\/p>\n

In Amsterdam, meanwhile, the Netherlands \u2013 top of Group G \u2013 must avoid defeat to Lithuania, or see Poland fail to beat Malta, to take the automatic qualifying spot. If they lose and Poland win, Jan Urban\u2019s men go straight into the finals … provided there\u2019s a goal difference swing of 13.<\/p>\n

And finally to Group L, which offers no misery for our delectation. Croatia, whose meeting with Montenegro might still be spicy, are qualified in first place; Czechia, who entertain Gibraltar, are cemented in second. But with the big thing not too far away, anything we can learn now stands us in good stead for then.<\/p>\n

Kick-offs: <\/strong>7.45pm GMT<\/p>\n

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Updated at\u00a014.03 EST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Key events Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Back in Amsterdam, Reijnders charges forward has men either side \u2026 and opts to shoot, his trivela hitting the far post, two-thirds of the way up. Share GOAL! Germany 2-0 Slovakia (Gnabry 29) This is so simple. A ball into Goretzka,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[130,2794,1921,132,19477,2418,11546,8920,11714,550],"class_list":{"0":"post-34151","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-cup","9":"tag-germany","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-live","12":"tag-luxembourg","13":"tag-northern","14":"tag-qualifiers","15":"tag-qualifying","16":"tag-slovakia","17":"tag-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}