After suffering a rare defeat on Group A’s opening matchday, Die Nationalelf bounced straight back; but they still sit third in the standings, just above their pointless visitors.<\/p>\n
Match preview<\/p>\n
Expected to stroll straight through as group winners and book an automatic spot at next year’s global finals, Germany instead started off with a first-ever away defeat in World Cup qualifying.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly beaten 2-0 in Slovakia early last month, Julian Nagelsmann<\/strong><\/a>‘s side then returned to action three days later, hosting Group A’s third seeds Northern Ireland in Cologne<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n It was another unconvincing performance, with the score tied at 1-1 before Nadiem Amiri<\/strong><\/a> and Florian Wirtz<\/strong><\/a> both struck in the final 20 minutes to avoid more embarrassment on home turf.<\/p>\n The four-time world champions now resume their campaign sitting third in the table, with a tricky trip to Belfast scheduled straight after Friday’s home fixture.<\/p>\n Only the first-placed team in each group advances straight to the newly expanded 48-team finals, meaning Germany must catch and overhaul Slovakia if they want to avoid a playoff.<\/p>\n So, with Nagelsmann’s win-rate across his first 25 matches as Bundestrainer standing at a modest 52%, the pressure is on to claim maximum points this month.<\/p>\n To date, the Germans have won all three competitive meetings with Luxembourg – scoring 16 goals in the process – so anything less than an emphatic win will result in even more intense scrutiny.<\/p>\n Luxembourg have also lost eight of nine friendlies between the neighbouring nations, with the sole exception a shock 2-1 home win back in 1939.<\/p>\n Like history, current form is not on their side, as Les Lions Rouges suffered back-to-back defeats in their first set of World Cup 2026 qualifying fixtures.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though they were beaten by Northern Ireland and Slovakia, Jeff Strasser<\/strong><\/a>‘s side proved to be no pushovers: a red card midway through the second half cost them dearly in their opener, before they almost held out for a point on matchday two.<\/p>\n In fact, only conceding a last-gasp goal condemned Luxembourg to a 1-0 home loss when they met group leaders Slovakia last time out.<\/p>\n That made it nine competitive games without a win for the Grand Duchy, who recently fell to 96th in the FIFA World Rankings and remain rock-bottom of Group A.<\/p>\n Having missed perhaps their best chance to take points, they must now face the top two seeds in successive away matches: after heading to Sinsheim – home of Bundesliga club Hoffenheim – a tough trip to Trnava awaits.<\/p>\n Germany World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:<\/p>\n L W<\/p>\n Germany form (all competitions):<\/p>\n W D L L L W<\/p>\n Luxembourg World Cup Qualifying – Europe form:<\/p>\n L L<\/p>\n Luxembourg form (all competitions):<\/p>\n W L L D L L\u00a0<\/p>\n Team News<\/p>\n Since Manuel Neuer’s international retirement – and given the ongoing injury woes of Marc-Andre ter Stegen – Oliver Baumann<\/strong><\/a> has become Germany’s first choice goalkeeper, but he may be forced to miss Friday’s game due to illness.<\/p>\n Freiburg’s Noah Atubolu was called up as cover, in case the Hoffenheim captain cannot play at his home stadium – albeit Stuttgart’s Alexander Nubel<\/strong><\/a> might start if Baumann fails to recover.\u00a0<\/p>\n Uncapped defender Nathaniel Brown has been selected for the first time, as Real Madrid star Antonio Rudiger<\/strong><\/a> was ruled out – the latter joins injured forwards Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala on the sidelines.<\/p>\n After missing last month’s fixtures, Nico Schlotterbeck is now available, but Pascal Gross and Niclas Fullkrug have both been dropped; in the latter’s absence, Newcastle United striker Nick Woltemade<\/strong><\/a> should start up front.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, three Germany-based players could feature in Luxembourg’s lineup: St Pauli’s Danel Sinani<\/strong><\/a> and Augsburg forward Aiman Dardari usually join forces up front, while Greuther Furth midfielder Mathias Olesen\u00a0should line up behind them.<\/p>\n Borussia Dortmund teenager Enzo Duarte misses out this month, though, as does veteran defender Mica Pinto.<\/p>\n Strasser – who represented Kaiserslautern and Borussia Monchengladbach during his playing days – can now call upon Seid Korac<\/strong><\/a>, who has served a one-match ban for his red card against Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n Germany possible starting lineup:<\/strong><\/p>\n Nubel; Anton, Tah, Koch; Schade, Kimmich, Goretzka, Raum; Gnabry, Wirtz; Woltemade<\/p>\n Luxembourg possible starting lineup:<\/strong><\/p>\n Moris; Jans, Mahmutovic, Korac, Carlson; Olesen, Barreiro; Moreira, Sinani, Bohnert; Dardari<\/p>\n We say: Germany 4-0 Luxembourg<\/p>\n After keeping just five clean sheets in their last 18 games, Germany can both pick up maximum points and post a rare shut-out.<\/p>\n Luxembourg have incrementally improved in recent years, but they remain lightweight up front and vulnerable to quick attackers at the back.<\/p>\n For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Luxembourg](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/uploads\/2025\/09\/imago1066034008-1-68bae2a4c914.webp\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Germany](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/uploads\/2025\/06\/nick-woltemade-6859633b36cde08.webp\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"SM](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/20\/33\/sm-words-green-background.png\" "\\"SM")
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![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/24\/46\/jonathan-oshea.jpg\"\/)
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