Germany suffered a shock 2-0 defeat to Slovakia in their opening World Cup qualifier in Bratislava, only the fourth qualifier loss in their history.
David Hancko opened the scoring just before half-time after a swift run and exchange with David Strelec, who later doubled the lead with a brilliant solo effort that left Antonio Rüdiger stranded.
Despite fielding Florian Wirtz and new Newcastle striker Nick Woltemade, Julian Nagelsmann’s side lacked cutting edge in attack. Germany now host Northern Ireland on Sunday after their 3-1 win in Luxembourg.
Elsewhere in the qualifiers, Spain eased past Bulgaria 3-0 in Group E, Poland snatched a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands thanks to Matty Cash’s late equalizer, Belgium thrashed Liechtenstein 6-0, and Wales edged Kazakhstan 1-0 in Group J.
