Germany begin their 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign with a trip to Slovakia's National Stadium in Bratislava (also known as Tehelne pole), the opening match of Group A in Europe.

This is a late start for coach Julian Nagelsmann and his team, as they were previously busy participating in the 2025/26 Nations League.

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Without Musiala, Nagelsmann continues to experiment. Photo: Imago

The Nations League can be seen as a mixed success and failure for Germany. There, Julian Nagelsmann brought a new look in terms of playing style, but failed in terms of results against Portugal (semi-final) and France (third place match).

Germany continue to have to experiment, when the squad has significant losses when Jamal Musiala and number 1 goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen are both absent due to injury; similarly Kai Havertz, center-back Schlotterbeck.

However, according to experts, Nagelsmann still has many quality options. The three new recruits called up for the first time are Paul Nebel (Mainz), Nnamdi Collins (Frankfurt) and Finn Dahmen (Augsburg).

Up front, Nick Woltemade is likely to start, supported by Florian Wirtz, Karim Adeyemi or Serge Gnabry – the current top scorer of the Mannschaft with 22 goals. Captain Joshua Kimmich will continue to guard the right wing.

The attention was focused on Woltemade – Newcastle’s historic signing . After winning the European Under-21 Golden Boot, Nagelsmann tested him as a “number 10”, replacing Musiala.

Hosts Slovakia entered the match in poor form: 4 consecutive recent matches without knowing the taste of victory, including defeats against Israel and Greece in a series of friendlies.

Slovakia's squad is going through a period of major change. The home side rely on a mix of veterans and youth but lack experience. Matus Bero and Ondrej Duda could be key to the team's play due to their knowledge of the Bundesliga.

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Woltemade has been in the spotlight after his historic move to Newcastle. Photo: Imago

The history of the confrontation is overwhelmingly in Germany’s favor, with 8 wins after 11 encounters. The last time the two teams met, in the round of 16 of EURO 2016, Mannschaft won 3-0.

In terms of overall achievements, Mannschaft has never missed a World Cup , while Slovakia has only participated once, in 2010.

With superior strength and tradition, Germany is rated much higher. In the context of not finding the ideal framework, this opening match still contains challenges for Nagelsmann and his students.

However, it is likely that Germany will take 3 points, when Nagelsmann chooses an attacking style of play and high intensity pressing.

Force:

Slovakia: Adam Obert is injured.

Germany: Havertz,   Kleindienst,   Musiala, Schlotterbeck, ter Stegen are injured.

Expected lineup:

Slovakia (3-4-3): Rodak - Gyomber, Skriniar, Satka - Kmet, Hrosovsky, Duda, Hancko - Bero, Bozenik, Tupta.

Germany (4-2-3-1): Baumann - Kimmich, Tah, Rudiger, Raum - Gross, Goretzka - Adeyemi, Woltemade, Wirtz – Fullkrug.

Match odds: Germany handicap 1 1/4

Goal ratio: 2 3/4

Prediction: Germany win 3-1 .

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nhan-dinh-bong-da-slovakia-vs-duc-vong-loai-world-cup-2026-2439065.html