Germany – Slovakia: Ticket to the World Cup! (6–0)

Germany sealed its qualification for the World Cup with its best match of the Qualifiers, wiping the floor with a Slovakia side that never figured out how to defend the German dancers between the lines.

Tactical analysis and match report by Juan Lauz.

Germany received Slovakia at the Red Bull Arena in Leipzig with a clear mission: to definitively close its qualification for the next World Cup. A point would have been enough, but that calculation felt insufficient for a team obliged to impose itself at home, reaffirm its sensations, and sustain the upward trajectory of recent weeks.

Despite a run of four consecutive wins, the Mannschaft’s qualifying campaign had been full of ups and downs. Julian Nagelsmann, under growing pressure since the beginning of the process, knew his team needed a convincing match that would consolidate the idea and restore certainty ahead of the World Cup.

The challenge, moreover, was far from simple. Slovakia arrived strengthened by its opening-match victory and guided by Stanislav Lobotka, the key piece in Francesco Calzona’s team. The Central European side was approaching the possibility of returning to a World Cup for the first time in 16 years and saw Leipzig as an opportunity to take a decisive step toward the USA, Mexico, and Canada.

The scenario was clear: Germany secured direct qualification with a draw, whilst a win also pushed it closer to Pot 1 for the draw. A defeat, on the other hand, would have sent it into the uncertainty of the . . .