Germany moved to the verge of sealing their place at next summer’s FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 victory over Luxembourg, though the scoreline did not fully reflect a first half in which the hosts threatened a major upset.

Despite the clear David vs. Goliath nature of the matchup, Luxembourg began with unexpected confidence in front of their home supporters. Determined to avoid finishing a World Cup qualifying campaign without a single point for the first time in two decades, the Red Lions caused Germany early problems. Florian Wirtz tested the defence with an early attempt, but Luxembourg responded with three big chances of their own.

Daniel Sinani twice found himself at the heart of the action, first driving a shot across goal after being released by Leandro Barreiro, then forcing Oliver Baumann into a near-post save. Between those two opportunities, Aiman Dardari narrowly missed finding the far corner after cutting in from Germany’s exposed left side. A brief VAR check for a possible handball against Ridle Baku was dismissed, and Luxembourg continued to press with admirable intensity.

Germany, meanwhile, struggled to find space or rhythm, a stark contrast to their dominant 4-0 win in October’s reverse fixture. Reaching half-time at 0-0 was a symbolic victory for Luxembourg, and an anxious outcome for a German side accustomed to greater control.

However, the hosts’ hopes of a historic first post-war triumph over a German senior side were dashed just four minutes into the second half. A long ball from Aleksandar Pavlović was expertly brought down by Leroy Sané, who teed up Nick Woltemade to steer a calm finish inside the area and give Germany the breakthrough.

Luxembourg’s early intensity inevitably faded, but they still came agonisingly close to equalising around the 70-minute mark. Barreiro sparked the move once again, linking up with Olivier Thill before Christopher Martins fired wide from just six yards out. That miss proved costly. Less than two minutes later, Germany doubled their lead in a move similar to the opener: a long pass found Sané on the right, he worked the ball to Baku, and the right-back threaded a clever ball through for Woltemade to blast home his second of the night – and his third goal in just two international appearances.

From that point forward, Germany controlled proceedings comfortably, while Luxembourg’s spirited performance ultimately extended their poor run to just one victory since March 2024 (D3, L12).

With the win, Germany retain their dominant head-to-head record against Luxembourg, having now scored 24 unanswered goals across their last five meetings. Julian Nagelsmann’s men will confirm top spot in Group A with a draw against Slovakia on Monday, while Luxembourg can take pride in their defiance, even if it was not enough to delay Germany’s march to the World Cup.