A summary of Friday's action in the FIFA World Cup 2026 UEFA Qualifiers.
Nick Woltemade scored twice in the second half to give the four-time World champions Germany a hard-earned 2-0 win over Luxembourg in their penultimate 2026 World Cup qualifier on Friday, leaving them on the brink of automatic qualification.
Woltemade, who has now scored his team's last three goals, after also netting the winner in their 1-0 victory over Northern Ireland last month, put the visitors in front in the 49th minute. He slid in to connect with a Leroy Sane cutback with the Germans surprisingly on the backfoot for much of the first half.
The Newcastle United striker added another in the 69th minute to keep Germany top of Group A on 12 points, with Slovakia, their next opponents on Monday, in second place on goal difference.
Julian Nagelsmann's team lacked any real punch up front in the first half while littering the pitch with defensive errors that allowed Luxembourg to carve out several scoring chances.
Germany, however, will now book their ticket for next year's World Cup, co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States, with a win or a draw in Monday's final qualifier against the Slovaks. The group winners earn automatic qualification while the second-placed team will head to the playoffs in March.
The hosts were not intimidated by the Germans, and Luxembourg had chances through Aiman Dardari and Danel Sinani in the first 25 minutes, with four shots towards goal for them compared to Germany's two by that stage.
Germany's busiest man in the first half was keeper Oliver Baumann and they had to wait until the 49th minute to break the deadlock with Woltemade's well-timed run.
Dardari's 52nd minute shot flew just wide of the post as Luxembourg refused to give up, and Christopher Martins came even closer but also missed the target from point blank range in the 66th, before Woltemade's second goal settled German nerves.
Depay helps Netherlands hold Poland
The Netherlands kept up their three-point advantage over Poland in their World Cup qualifying group as the two sides drew 1-1 on Friday, leaving the Dutch a point away from qualification.
Jakub Kaminski handed Poland a half-time lead as they needed victory to keep alive slim hopes of topping Group G and securing automatic qualification for next year's finals.
Memphis Depay replied for the visitors at Stadion Narodowy shortly after the break to ensure the Dutch moved to 17 points with Poland second in the group standings on 14.
The Netherlands need only draw at home to bottom-placed Lithuania in their last fixture in Amsterdam on Monday to book their World Cup berth.
Poland put out an attacking line-up in their bid for the win that would have boosted their hopes of topping the group and should have been ahead inside two minutes when flying fullback Matty Cash found Nicola Zalewski with the goal gaping in front of him, but he missed from close range.
The Dutch then controlled possession for much of the opening half, blunting Poland’s ambitions but without making inroads themselves.
But they were caught out two minutes from the break when Robert Lewandowski played a superb pass from the centre circle to set Kaminski free and the striker finished with only Dutch goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen to beat.
However, two minutes after half-time the group leaders were level. Poland goalkeeper Kamil Grabara misjudged Cody Gakpo's cross and could not get a touch as it sailed over his head, offering Donyell Malen the chance for a diving header which the keeper did well to stop only for Depay to score the rebound.
It was the eighth goal in the qualifying campaign for the Dutch record goalscorer, whose overall tally for his country is now 55 in 107 internationals.
Both sides were unable to carve out any clear chances thereafter despite bringing on fresh legs although the game was played at a high tempo to the end.
Virgil van Dijk marked his 71st game as Netherlands captain, equalling Frank de Boer's record. The defender said it had been a hard evening's work, "especially against a low block we could not create a lot of clear chances".
Croatia secure World Cup spot with win over Faroe Islands
Croatia completed a 3-1 comeback win over the Faroe Islands at home, securing their place at next year's World Cup in the US, Mexico and Canada.
With Croatia on 19 points, second‑placed Czech Republic can no longer catch them in Group L, as they sit on 13 points with one match left to play against Gibraltar on Monday.
For the visitors, ranked 127th by FIFA, the campaign ends with an impressive 12 points and a genuine fight for the top two places.
The Faroe Islands stunned the crowd after 16 minutes when Geza David Turi burst forward from midfield and hit a low strike that deflected off Luka Vuskovic to give the visitors the lead.
Seven minutes later, Croatia were level as the ball broke kindly for Josko Gvardiol in the box, who drilled a powerful strike into the bottom right corner.
Croatia went ahead in the 57th minute as an unmarked Petar Musa guided a low cross into the net. Nikola Vlasic settled the contest in the 70th minute with a composed finish.
AC Milan midfielder Luka Modric, 40, will lead Croatia at his tenth major international tournament and fifth World Cup in 2026.
Croatia's long-time number 10 and former Real Madrid number 10 was key to their runner-up finish in 2018 and bronze in 2022.
The 2018 Ballon d'Or winner has featured in four World Cups (2006, 2014, 2018 and 2022) and five European Championships and, currently on 193 caps, is closing in on the 200-appearance mark at the 2026 tournament.
Slovakia snatch win over Northern Ireland to set up thrilling Group A finale
Slovakia's Tomas Bobcek scored in stoppage time to seal a dramatic 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in a World Cup qualifier on Friday after two VAR disallowed goals, with both sides clinching at least a playoff spot.
Slovakia are level on 12 points with Group A leaders Germany but trail on goal difference. Friday's result set up an exciting Group A finale on Monday when the Slovaks travel to Germany with an automatic World Cup berth on the line.
Northern Ireland are third on six points but are fortunate that Croatia's 3-1 victory over the Faroe Islands on Friday guaranteed them a playoff spot due to their Nations League finish.
Slovakia had two second-half goals chalked off after VAR reviews at Kosice Football Arena before Bobcek bundled in the ball from a corner kick with goalkeeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell well out of his net in the 91st minute, sending the home fans into raptures.
It was third time lucky. The home side had celebrated what they thought was their first goal in the 55th minute when Lukas Haraslin won a free kick and fired a low shot into the net, but Milan Skriniar was offside and interfered with Peacock-Farrell.
There were more roller-coaster emotions 10 minutes later when David Strelec got a touch on Haraslin's free kick to guide it into the far corner of the net, but VAR determined it came off Middlesbrough striker's arm.
Northern Ireland, who had Daniel Ballard sent off in the 99th minute, host last-placed Luxembourg on Monday.
