Northern Ireland won their dress rehearsal for the duel with Germany, inflicting their first defeat on Slovakia in World Cup qualifying.
Thanks to an own goal from Patrik Hrosovsky (18th) and a goal from Trai Hume (81st), the Northern Irish celebrated their second win in the third game with a 2-0 (1-0) win in Belfast – and thus helped the DFB team take the lead in the table.
Germany, which lost against Slovakia (0-2) and won against Northern Ireland (3-1) in September, is now at the top of Group A for the first time thanks to the clear 4-0 win in the parallel game against bottom-placed Luxembourg due to the best goal difference.
Northern Ireland and Slovakia follow on equal points. Only the group winner will definitely qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico.
On Monday (8:45 p.m./live on free TV on RTL), Northern Ireland will welcome the DFB team for the second leg in Belfast. Top performer Conor Bradley from Liverpool FC will be missing from coach Michael O’Neill’s team; the 22-year-old received his second yellow card on Friday evening (76th).