Four-time World Cup winners Germany will kickstart their 2026 qualification campaign by locking horns with Slovakia at the Tehelne Pole Stadium in Bratislava on Thursday, September 4, 2025.
Despite their glorious past, Die Mannschaft have struggled to make their mark in the last two World Cups with consecutive group-stage exits. Therefore, they are determined to start on a strong note in the qualifiers after reaching the UEFA Nations League semifinal this year, where they lost to eventual champions Portugal.
Germany are placed in Group A along with Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg and Julian Nagelsmann's men are the favourites to qualify from this group. Despite their patchy form across competitions, they head into this match against Slovakia having won each of their past seven World Cup qualifiers.
They have also defeated Slovakia in three of their previous five meetings, including their last away trip way back in October 2006 in a European Championship qualifier.
Slovakia, led by head coach Francesco Calzone, are in dire straits as they will host Germany on the back of a four-game winless streak. The run started with defeat to Slovenia in the second leg of the UEFA Nations League playoffs courtesy of a late goal that marked their exit from the tournament.
The Falcons have only qualified for the World Cup once back in 2010, but with the tournament spreading its wings and becoming a 48-team competition, Slovakia will back themselves to qualify this time.
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Slovakia vs. Germany predicted lineups: Starting XI, team news, roster
Slovakia will have plenty of absentees for this clash against Germany as they will miss the likes of Lukas Haraslin, Denis Vavro, Samuel Kozlovsky and Dominik Javorcek, who are all out with injuries.
There are doubts over the availability of Laszlo Benes and Ivan Schranz and they will be assessed closer to kickoff.
Premier League star Martin Dubravka is expected to start in goal while 38-year-old veteran Peter Pekarik will lead the defense alongside Milan Skriniar.
Stanislav Lobotka and Ondrej Duda are expected to be the stalwarts in midfield with Stoke City's Robert Bozenik leading the line upfront.
Slovakia predicted starting XI (4-3-3, right to left): Dubravka (GK) — Pekarik, Skriniar, Gyomber, Hancko — Duda, Lobotka, Bero — Schranz, Bozenik, Duris
Slovakia full roster
Goalkeepers: Martin Dubravka, Marek Rodak, Dominic Takac
Defenders: Peter Pekarik, Milan Skriniar, David Hancko, Norbert Gyomber, Matus Kmet, Lubomir Satka, Adam Obert, Ivan Mesik, Tomas Nemcik
Midfielders: Matus Bero, Stanislav Lobotka, Tomas Rigo, Tadeas Hajovsky, Patrik Hrosovsky, Laszlo Benes, Ondrej Duda
Forwards: David Duris, Ivan Schranz, Robert Bozenik, David Strelec, Lubomir Tupta, Leo Sauer, Lukas Haraslin, Tomas Bobcek, Samuel Mraz.
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There are three players in contention to make their senior debuts: Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, Eintracht Frankfurt defender Nnamdi Collins, and Mainz forward Paul Nebel.
On the other hand, Nagelsmann also has several injury concerns as players like Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz, Tom Bischof, Nico Schlotterbeck, Niklas Sule and Tim Kleindienst are among those unavailable through injury.
No. 1 Marc-Andre ter Stegen is also out injured, hence Olivier Baumann will get the nod to start against Slovakia given his experience, Nagelsmann has confirmed.
Jonathan Tah and Antonio Rudiger will provide steel at the heart of the German defense with Joshua Kimmich slotting in at right-back due to lack of options.
Angelo Stiller could start in midfield partnering Leon Goretzka with Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade starting up front.
Germany predicted starting XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Baumann (GK) — Kimmich, Tah, Rudiger, Raum — Goretzka, Stiller — Gnabry, Wirtz, Adeyemi — Woltemade.
Germany full roster
Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann, Finn Dahmen, Alexander Nubel
Defenders: Jonathan Tah, Antonio Rudiger, Waldemar Anton, Nnamdi Collins, Robin Koch, Maximilian Mittelstadt, David Raum
Midfielders: Karim Adeyemi, Robert Andrich, Nadiem Amiri, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Pascal Gross, Joshua Kimmich, Jamie Leweling, Paul Nebel, Angelo Stiller, Florian Wirtz
Forwards: Niclas Fullkrug, Nick Woltemade.
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Slovakia vs. Germany match details
- Date: Thursday, September 4, 2025
- Kickoff time: 8:45 p.m. local / 7:45 p.m. BST
- Location: Tehelne Pole Stadium, Bratislava (Slovakia)
- Competition: FIFA World Cup 2026 Qualifiers
- Referee: Serdar Gozubuyuk (Netherlands)