Germany – Northern Ireland

The rivals will exchange goals in a high-scoring match.

The German national team demonstrated a true nightmare in their opening match of the World Cup qualifying round. Bastian Schweinsteiger, who had devoted many years to Bayern Munich and the national team, said after the defeat in Slovakia: "Germany will be lucky if they make it to the World Cup playing like this. I did not believe for a minute that we would win. The players need to realise that this was bad." The legend of the German team, Lothar Matthäus, echoed his younger colleague: "Terrible game from Germany it could easily have finished 0:5." If one delves into the comments on social media, the clouds around Julian Nagelsmann, who has been working with the German team for two years, are darkening. Perhaps the defeat to Slovakia would have been received with more patience if it hadn't been the third consecutive loss for the Germans in official matches. Moreover, Germany's performance appeared straightforward and dull. Already at 0:2, the German team resorted to unsuccessful attempts to cross into the penalty area at Woltemade and dead-end flashes of dribbling from Adeyemi. Slovakia, on the other hand, successfully launched counter-attacks and could have indeed scored more. As a result, after the first matchday of the World Cup qualifiers in Group A, Germany finds itself at the bottom - just below the dwarf Luxembourg, which has the best goal tally. Undoubtedly, all of footballing Germany is looking forward to the second round as an opportunity for its players to redeem themselves. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland is a very dangerous and unpredictable opponent for such purposes. Firstly, the British team has noticeably improved over the last couple of years, with a significantly younger squad. Secondly, Northern Ireland will be eager to challenge Germany, as they come off a wave of success. Not only did this team win their group in the Nations League, but they also started the qualifying campaign for the 2026 World Cup with a victory on Thursday. Of course, it’s not the best idea to boast about a win over Luxembourg, even away from home, but the British have no reason for disappointment whatsoever. Six of the last nine encounters between Germany and Northern Ireland ended with three or more goals scored. The prospects for the upcoming match are similarly high.