Location: Tehelne Pole Stadion, Bratislava, Slovakia
Date: Thursday, September 4th, 2025
Time: 9:45pm local time (2:45pm EST)
TV/streaming: Fox One, Fox Soccer Plus, ViX, Find Your Country
Back in June, Germany hosted the conclusion of the 2025 UEFA Nations League but eliminated in a 2-1 loss to Portugal in the semifinal. Germany also lost the third place match to France, 2-0. Germany will now turn its focus to qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. Germany is the heavy favorite to earn the automatic qualifier spot in Group A.
Dating back to 2005, Germany and Slovakia have met on five occasions. Slovakia won both friendlies but Germany won all three matches in the EURO competition.
In March, Slovakia qualified for the promotion playoff to the B division of the UEFA Nations League. Unfortunately, Slovakia was defeated by Slovenia with a 1-0 aggregate score. Slovakia has a decent opportunity to win one of the four wild card spots into the 2026 World Cup.
Here is the predicted lineup, courtesy of BFW:
Julian Nagelsmann loves to tinker with his lineups and formations. This will likely resemble more of a 3-4-3 in attacking situations, with the outside backs moving up the flank and Joshua Kimmich dropping into the back line.
Thanks to Kimmich moving back to the central midfield, Eintracht Frankfurt’s Nnamdi Collins will get his shot at claiming the right back position. Serge Gnabry and Karim Adeyemi will move forward as well to give Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade carte blanche to roam freely in the middle of the attack.
The substitutions will be key to Nagelsmann’s plan. David Raum, Robert Andrich, Nadiem Amiri, and Niclas Füllkrug are the most likely candidates. The rest of the reserves will be at Nagelsmann’s mercy for playing time.
Slovakia runs a strict 4-3-3 formation, regardless of opponent. Like many Germany opponents, they will plan to sit deep in a low block and explode forward on the counterattacks. Slovakia is captained by Fenerbahçe center-back Milan Škriniar.
Germany will be starting their World Cup Qualifying campaign this week with matches against Slovakia and Northern Ireland. Julian Nagelsmann’s side will be eager to right their wrongs after failing to win the Nations League title on home soil in Munich. Join Jack Laushway and Michael Scott as they break down the 23-man roster, a potential starting lineup, as well as Germany’s prospects in this group.
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