Germany's forward #11 Nick Woltemade (C) celebrates with teammates after winning the 2026 World Cup qualifiers Europe zone group A football match between Luxembourg and Germany at the Luxembourg Stadium in Luxembourg on November 14, 2025.placeholder image
Germany's forward #11 Nick Woltemade (C) celebrates with teammates after winning the 2026 World Cup qualifiers Europe zone group A football match between Luxembourg and Germany at the Luxembourg Stadium in Luxembourg on November 14, 2025. | AFP via Getty Images
Liverpool star Florian Wirtz played the full game for Germany on Friday night as they beat Luxembourg 2-0 in World Cup qualifying
Liverpool star Florian Wirtz played the full game on Friday night as Germany beat Luxembourg 2-0 in World Cup qualifying to put themselves one point from qualification.
Germany sit top of Group A with 12 points from five games. They are level on points with Slovakia, who beat Northern Ireland 1-0 on Friday night with a 91st minute goal after seeing two goals ruled out by VAR.
Germany play Slovakia next and draw is enough for them on Monday night to secure their spot at next summer’s World Cup as they have the best goal difference. However, they did lose to the Eastern European side back in September so the result is far from a foregone conclusion.
Newcastle United star Nick Woltemade starred for Germany as he scored both goals, which came in the 49th and then 69th minute. However, Wirtz still had plenty of involvment as he played on the left of a front three - a position he excelled in for Liverpool against Real Madrid.
Stats behind Florian Wirtz performance for Germany
Two of his shots hit the target while he had 80 touches but only six of those came inside the Luxembourg box. He had 5/6 successful dribbles and made five passes into the final third. He produced five crosses but none found a teammate but he had better luck with long balls as 2/2 found another Germany player.
Defensively, he made two tackles, one interception and produced five recoveries. He was not dribbled past or dispossessed once during the game.
Reaction as Germany and Florian Wirtz on cusp of World Cup spot
While the result is a positive one and puts Germany in pole position in Group A - manager Julian Nagelsmann was far from pleased with the performance.
He said: “We have three points - football is a results business after all - but it was more difficult than we had hoped.
“The first half was once again quite sluggish. We needed the second half to really get ourselves into the game. In the first 45 minutes we were too static, too inflexible, too unmotivated. The commitment was better in the second half.”
He added: “We would have deserved to concede a goal. That didn’t happen, and in the end we took our chances and won the game - that’s the most important thing for me.”
Continue Reading