Germany turned their winner-takes-all World Cup qualifying clash into a cakewalk as four first-half goals proved more than enough to sink Group A rivals Slovakia and seal their place at next year’s finals.<\/p>\n
Teenager Assane Ouedraogo completed his side’s 6-0 rout by rounding off a fine team goal within minutes of coming on for his international debut.<\/p>\n
Both sides had gone into the game knowing a win would be enough to qualify as group winners in Leipzig, with the loser thrust into the uncertainty of a play-off.<\/p>\n
But Slovakia’s hopes of repeating their opening Group A win in Bratislava were dashed by a lightning start from the hosts, with a Nick Woltemade header and Serge Gnabry putting them 2-0 up within the first half hour.<\/p>\n
Leroy Sane added a quickfire double before the break and after Ridle Baku grabbed Germany’s fifth in the 67th minute, the scene was set for Leipzig midfielder Ouedraogo to make an immediate impression on his home turf.<\/p>\n
The Netherlands also booked their place in the finals as winners of Group G after cruising to a 4-0 win over Lithuania in Amsterdam.<\/p>\n
Ronald Koeman’s men knew merely avoiding defeat would be enough but they made sure of their progression through a 16th-minute strike from Tijjani Reijnders and Cody Gakpo’s penalty just before the hour mark.<\/p>\n
Further goals from Xavi Simons and Donyell Malen confirmed that Poland, who needed a late Piotr Zielinski strike to nudge to an unimpressive 3-2 win in Malta, will go into the play-offs.<\/p>\n
Nikola Vlasic scored a late winner as already-qualified Croatia hit back from two goals down to win 3-2 in Montenegro, while the Czech Republic, already assured of a play-off place in Group L, cantered to a 6-0 win over Gibraltar.<\/p>\n