Germany, Netherlands on brink of 2026 World Cup qualification

MUNICH: Nick Woltemade scored twice in the second half to give the four-time World champions Germany a hard-earned 2-0 win over Luxembourg in their penultimate 2026 World Cup qualifier on Friday, leaving them on the brink of automatic qualification.

Woltemade, who has now scored his team's last three goals, after also netting the winner in their 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland last month, put the visitors in front in the 49th minute. He slid in to connect with a Leroy Sane cutback with the Germans surprisingly on the backfoot for much of the first half.

The Newcastle United striker added another in the 69th minute to keep Germany top of Group A on 12 points, with Slovakia, their next opponents on Monday, in second place on goal difference.

Julian Nagelsmann's team lacked any real punch up front in the first half while littering the pitch with defensive errors that allowed Luxembourg to carve out several scoring chances.

Germany, however, will now book their ticket for next year's World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, with a win or a draw in Monday's final qualifier against the Slovaks. The group winners earn automatic qualification while the second-placed team will head to the playoffs in March.

The hosts were not intimidated by the Germans, and Luxembourg had chances through Aiman Dardari and Danel Sinani in the first 25 minutes, with four shots towards goal for them compared to Germany's two by that stage.

Germany's busiest man in the first half was keeper Oliver Baumann and they had to wait until the 49th minute to break the deadlock with Woltemade's well-timed run.

Dardari's 52nd minute shot flew just wide of the post as Luxembourg refused to give up, and Christopher Martins came even closer but also missed the target from point blank range in the 66th, before Woltemade's second goal settled German nerves.

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