Germany put World Cup 2026 qualifying back on track, Belgium and Spain win big

 
Germany got their World Cup qualifying campaign back on track with a 3-1 win against Northern Ireland in Cologne on Sunday. 

Days after a shock 2-0 defeat away to Slovakia, Julian Nagelsmann’s team bounced back as goals from Serge Gnabry, Nadiem Amiri and Florian Wirtz were enough to dispatch Northern Ireland. In the 34th minute, Isaac Price had equalised for the visitors before Germany ran out winners in the second half.

Germany’s underwhelming first-half performance prompted boos from the home crowd. Nagelsmann changed the match with his substitutions – Nadiem Amiri, Maximilian Beier, Leon Goretzka, and Jonathan Tah were all introduced in the second half.

Nagelsmann said: “The subs changed the game. Nadiem did really well. Maxi [Beier] brought pace and runs in behind the centre-backs. Leon also did much better than on Thursday. The body language was much better. Jona [Tah] also had a good 10-minute cameo, which is not easy for a defender against an opponent that plays a lot of long balls. We know there are still steps to be made but I’m happy with today.”

In October, Germany host Luxembourg and travel to Belfast for the return Northern Ireland fixture.

Elsewhere in World Cup qualifying, Belgium and Spain recorded mammoth wins. The 2010 World Cup champions defeated Turkey 6-0 with a hat-trick from Arsenal’s Mikel Merino and the Belgians won with the same scoreline at home against Kazakhstan, their second 6-0 victory in a matter of days after triumphing in Liechtenstein.

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