Nick Woltemade’s brace lifts Germany past Luxembourg 2-0, keeps World Cup qualification hopes alive

Germany’s Nick Woltemade (centre) celebrates his goal against Luxembourg with teammates in Luxembourg on Friday. Pic/Getty Images

Nick Woltemade scored a brace to send a sluggish Germany past Luxembourg 2-0 on Friday and within touching distance of direct World Cup qualification. Germany struggled against their underdog hosts - ranked 97th in the world - but victory kept them on track to qualify for next year's tournament in North America.

The four-time World Cup winners are level on points in Group A with second-placed Slovakia, who beat Northern Ireland 1-0 at home, but have a better goal difference with one match left to play. The top two face off in Leipzig on Monday with Germany guaranteed direct qualification if they avoid defeat. Before Friday's match, Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann backed Woltemade to make a difference in Luxembourg, and the big Newcastle striker did exactly that.

Missing key players

After scoring the only goal in a win over Northern Ireland in October - his first in international football - the 1.98-metre-tall Woltemade delivered again for a Germany side missing forwards Kai Havertz, Jamal Musiala, Niclas Fuellkrug, Tim Kleindienst and Karim Adeyemi.

"We weren't good in the first half. We moved the ball around too much and into situations where we put ourselves under pressure," Woltemade told Germany's RTL network. "We did better in the second half," Woltemade said. "I know it wasn't a pretty game but we gave our all, pushed hard and got the three points."

Croatia qualify

Croatia booked their ticket to the 2026 World Cup in North America with an unconvincing 3-1 win over the in-form Faroe Islands. After Geza David Turi had given the Faroes a shock lead, strikes from Josko Gvardiol, Petar Musa and Nikola Vlasic in Rijeka handed 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia their ticket to the finals. Victory gave Croatia a six point lead over the Czech Republic at the top of Group L with just a single game left.

Meanwhile, Memphis Depay's Dutch record-extending 55th goal helped push the Netherlands to the brink of qualification with a 1-1 draw in Poland.

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