German tremor against Luxembourg
A performance that causes concern
November 15, 2025 – 9:39 a.mReading time: 3 minutes
Not much went together for the German national team against Luxembourg. But in the end the result was right. There is still reason for concern.
William Laing reports from Luxembourg
The World Cup ticket is now within your grasp. On Friday evening in Luxembourg, the German national team took the penultimate step on the way to the 2026 World Cup. But there isn’t really much to celebrate for national coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team after the 2-0 away win in the neighboring country.
Because: The performance of the German team left more than to be desired for long stretches of the game. Defensively, the team was erratic and offensively haphazard for a long time – and mind you, against number 97 in the world rankings. A performance that is certainly worrying in view of the all-important game on Monday against Slovakia.
At the Stade de Luxembourg, the DFB team presented a frightening picture, especially in the first half. The hosts posed major problems for the defense around substitute captain Jonathan Tah on several occasions. It was solely thanks to the poor finishing qualities of the Luxembourgers and a good Oliver Baumann in the DFB goal that Germany did not fall behind against the blatant outsiders.
“I think we deserved to concede a goal,” Nagelsmann admitted in an RTL interview after the final whistle. But you didn’t get one and you “deservedly won”. In principle he wasn’t wrong, because the DFB team, unlike their opponents, used their chances more callously. But the worrying thought that his team could lose direct qualification for the World Cup with a comparable performance in just a few days must also have crossed the national coach’s mind.
Then Germany will meet Slovakia in Leipzig at the end of European qualification group A. A showdown that the Nagelsmann team must not lose under any circumstances. Otherwise, the currently second-placed team will overtake leaders Germany – and the four-time world champions will suddenly have to worry about taking part in the tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. A scenario that cannot be ruled out after the performance against Luxembourg. Because even an opponent who is actually clearly inferior in terms of football is apparently now giving the DFB team a headache.
Luxembourg was able to embarrass the German defense several times with the simplest pressing methods. It didn’t take much more than an energetic, collective approach to raise the stress level of the DFB defense. The best example of this was provided by Tah, who, under pressure in the 36th minute, allowed himself a highly dangerous half-high back pass to Baumann, which he had to clear in great distress in front of an onrushing Luxembourger. Especially in this scene, Germany shouldn’t have complained about conceding a goal. It was also indicative of the current lack of sovereignty in their own game, especially in defense.