Germany women have qualified for the 2023 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand with a 3-0 away win over Turkey at the Timsah Arena in Bursa. The three points see Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team secure first place in the qualifying Group H, five points ahead of second-placed Portugal. Therefore, the final group game against Bulgaria on 6th September will have no impact on their final group standing.
“We’re really, really happy,” said captain Alexandra Popp on the hard-fought victory. “It was a tough task for us. We didn’t have the tempo that we wanted, but that wasn’t very easy on this pitch.”
Germany dominant to begin with
Germany were the more controlling side from the opening minutes and had Turkey penned back into their own area while winning corners and creating goalscoring opportunities. The first chance of the game came to Linda Dallmann (5’), but her first-time shot went just over the bar.
The first half continued to develop into a one-sided affair with Germany creating chance after chance and looked like it was only a matter of time until the opening goal came. Klara Bühl was denied by the goalkeeper from close range (37’) after some good work from Magull.
Turkey defend well
The Turkish defence performed well to nullify the Germany attack and limit the amount of dangerous shots on their goal, while goalkeeper Selda Akgöz commanded her area impressively. Turkey looked to counter quickly upon winning possession but Germany were alert in defence at the other end.
Same picture after the break
Turkey won their first corner of the game in the opening minutes of the second half (47’), but the second half played out in a similar way to the first. Germany continued to be a threat and the next big chance came to Rauch, but her long-range shot was saved by Akgöz. At the other end, the hosts didn’t pose any problems in attack.
Penalty breaks the deadlock
The ball was finally in the back of the net in the 57th minute. A Turkey defender handled Dallmann’s cross from the right and Felicitas Rauch stepped up to convert into the right corner. The next goal almost came straight after but Akgöz saved a Dallmann header from close range.
Just three minutes later, the second goal did indeed come. Klara Bühl received a pass from Rauch and shot low into the back of the net from around 17 metres (60’). Lea Schüller rounded off the scoring and made it 3-0 shortly after coming off the bench (77’). With the victory in the bag, Germany saw out the game to secure their place at next year’s World Cup finals.