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The Germany national team came out on top in a difficult fixture in their mission to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, beating Northern Ireland 1-0 to take a significant step towards securing their spot in Mexico, the USA and Canada next summer. They got over the line in Belfast to bring three hard-fought points back to Germany, setting head coach Julian Nagelsmann’s team in good stead as group leaders heading into the final pair of qualifying fixtures in November.

It was none other than Newcastle United’s Nick Woltemade who managed to glance in the decisive goal in the Northern Irish capital. The centre-forward kept up his scintillating club form to score not only the winning goal, but his first goal for Germany after six appearances for the senior national side (31’). Nagelsmann’s side battled courageously for the rest of the night and successfully held on to their lead to make it nine points from four games in qualifying fixtures so far. Only goal difference separates second-place Slovakia from the group leaders after a 2-0 home win to Luxembourg also took them to a tally of nine points.
Woltemade shoulders the load to put Germany ahead

In front of 18,109 fans in the sold-out cauldron that was Windsor Park, Nagelsmann deployed the same starting XI that kicked off in the 4-0 win over Luxembourg on Friday night. Germany immediately took control of the game, dominating possession against a Northern Ireland team that sat deep and soaked up the pressure. Despite dictating play from the first minute onwards, chances seemed to elude Nagelsmann’s side during the opening phase of the game. It was, in fact, Northern Ireland who first succeeded in putting the ball in the back of the net, sending Windsor Park into raptures early in the first half. The home supporters’ celebrations were short-lived, however. Jamie Reid’s thunderous shot into the roof of the net was only made possible by Patrick MacNair’s headed delivery from an offside position, and the goal was ruled out accordingly (14’).

The attempt seemed to kick Northern Ireland into a new gear going forwards, with the hosts starting to create more chances as the game progressed. Germany first threatened to go ahead on 20 minutes as Aleksandar Pavlovic fired a long-range effort narrowly over the bar. The game was predominantly fought in the midfield, however, with the play dominated by combative duels rather than goalscoring opportunities for either team. In the cagey game that had developed within the first half an hour, it was perhaps predictable that a set-piece opportunity allowed Germany to open the scoring in Belfast. After a pinpoint corner delivery from David Raum, Nick Woltemade got the better of two markers and although he failed to meet the ball with his head, a crucial touch off his shoulder was enough to beat Bailey Peacock-Farrell (31’).

Northern Ireland apply the pressure before the break

Even after Germany took the lead, the game continued to be defined by tough tackles and physical battles. Crucially, though, Nagelsmann’s side remained concentrated on the task at hand and allowed Northern Ireland precious little space to progress the ball, often disrupting the hosts’ build-up play high up the pitch. In the 39th minute, Germany threatened to double the lead through a Serge Gnabry effort from 20 yards out, but the attempt only resulted in a corner after being blocked by a Northern Ireland defender.

Shortly before half time, Northern Ireland once again turned the intensity up a notch and came close to finding a leveller on couple of occasions. First, Reid found himself with the ball in a dangerous position on the edge of the box, but fell backwards when taking the shot and subsequently blazed the effort well over the bar. In added time before the whistle blew, Ali McCann sliced the ball towards the top right corner from 25 yards, but Germany fans were able to breathe a sigh of relief as the attempt sailed narrowly wide of the post.

Adeyemi misses chance to double the lead

It wasn’t long after the restart that Germany had a golden chance to make it two in Belfast. After the side drove up the pitch with an immaculate counter attack, Florian Wirtz played in Karim Adeyemi for a one-on-one chance with Peacock-Farrell, but the Dortmund winger fired wide from just 12 yards out. Despite the agonising miss, Adeyemi and co. had the game by the scruff of the neck once again and managed to deny Northern Ireland any serious attempts at progressing the ball towards the German goal.

After roughly an hour, though, the hosts began to gain the upper hand and managed to play through Germany more than once. After the hour mark, goalkeeper Oliver Baumann was forced to make a crucial save after Shea Charles got a shot off from close range (60’), before having to dive down to the bottom-right corner just moments later to deny Ethan Galbraith and push the ball onto the side netting with just his fingertips (61’). The state of play then changed yet again, as the pressure receded and the tempo slowed down. Serge Gnabry came close from a tight angle in the 70th minute, only for the keeper to make the save and parry over the bar for a corner.

Time was running out for Northern Ireland, although they remained determined to find the back of the net in the final moments of the game. Galbraith saw another shot from distance miss the goal narrowly (85’). Three minutes later, Callum Marshall posed a real danger in the box with a shot from just ten yards, only denied by more goalkeeping heroics from Baumann. The referee’s whistle eventually blew to confirm the win for Germany and call an end to a closely fought, nail-biting clash in Belfast.