World qualifiers, Germany’s "tennis" victory over Slovakia

The last matches in Groups A, G and L of the European Zone qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup were played this evening.

In Group A Germany and Slovakia, already qualified, were playing for first place, and the match had no history: 6-0 for the Germans in Leipzig. The other match in the group, won by Northern Ireland in Belfast 1-0 over Luxembourg, was irrelevant.

Goleada also for the Netherlands, which overwhelmed Lithuania 4-0 by scoring three goals in the second half, the tulips are first in Group G at the expense of Poland, which qualifies for the playoffs by winning 3-2 in Ta’ Qali over Malta, the decider being Inter Milan’s Zielinski in the 86th minute.

It was already all decided in Group L, with Croatia and Czech Republic first and second in the grouping. The former came back from two goals down to Montenegro and ended up winning 3-2 in Podgorica, and the latter went on a 6-0 run after 51 minutes over derelict Gibraltar, after which it stopped raging.