After a sluggish first half against Luxembourg on Friday, Germany turned it up a couple notches and got a key win behind Nick Woltemade’s first international brace. Germany and Slovakia are tied atop UEFA’s Group A in FIFA World Cup Qualifying but Germany holds the crucial tiebreaker on goal differential.
This means that a win or draw will punch Germany’s ticket to the FIFA World Cup next summer. A loss would award the automatic bid to Slovakia and Germany would have to fight through the two knockout rounds in a playoff format.
Until this year, Germany had defeated Slovakia in all three competitive matches. In September, Slovakia shocked Germany with a 2-0 result.
Slovakia has held clean sheet in all four wins throughout the qualifying round. Slovakia’s lone 2-0 loss came at the hands of Northern Ireland.
Odds: Germany (-450), Draw (+500), Slovakia (+1100)
Prediction: Germany draws 1-1. Florian Wirtz will draw a penalty kick in the first half and Leroy Sané will earn the honor of sending Germany to the World Cup. Germany will sit back with possession for the rest of the match. Slovakia will add some late drama with a set piece goal in the 85th minute but it will be too little too late.
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Location: Red Bull Arena, Leipzig, Germany
Date: Monday, November 17th, 2025
Time: 9:00pm local time (2:45pm EST)
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