Nick Woltemade power header sparks goals rush as Germany qualify for 2026 World Cup finals | OneFootball

It was a night when either Germany or Slovakia would automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals but once Nick Woltemade bulleted his header home, the contest was over.

Kimmich with a glorious cross and the Newcastle United star doing the rest on 18 minutes, Martin Dubravka with zero chance of saving it.

By the time 41 minutes had been played, it was 4-0 to Germany, the win that Slovakia needed simply never looked remotely possible.

Two more goals added after the break and easily Germany’s most convincing victory of the World Cup qualifying group phase.

Since signing for Newcastle United, these past two and a half months have seen Nick Woltemade now score ten goals in total, six for United and four for Germany.

Big Nick’s Newcastle United teammate Malick Thiaw was once again on the bench, having also got on the pitch as a late sub in the 2-0 win away against Luxembourg on Friday.

This time he got his chance on 64 minutes with Germany leading 4-0, the Newcastle United defender getting booked after only six minutes on the pitch but Thiaw helping his team to make it four clean sheets in a row. The other five goals scored by Gnabry, Sane (x2), Baku and Ouedraogo.

Nick Woltemade and Malick Thiaw can now look forward to the 2026 World Cup finals and a massive boost for the pair as they travel back to Tyneside, a huge game to prepare for on Saturday as Newcastle take on Man City at St James’ Park.

This is the November 2025 international schedule for Newcastle United players:

Thursday 13 November

Moldova 0 Italy 2

Sandro Tonali playing the full match in this World Cup group qualifier and though it took until the 88th minute for the away side to score, they fully deserved the eventual 2-0 win. Tonali the key figure in midfield as a much changed and weakened Italy side dominated throughout (28 v 3 on shots, 13 v 1 corners, 65 v 3 player touches of the ball in the opposition box) but struggled to convert that into goals.

England 2 Serbia 0

A dominant England performance with a classy Saka strike giving the hosts a half-time lead. Dan Burn watched on from the bench as the Three Lions failed to take their chances, until the 90th minute, Eze matching Saka with the quality of his  finish.

Friday 14 November

Luxembourg 0  Germany 2

Two quality second half finishes from Nick Woltemade, the first with his left and second using his right boot, firing Germany to this crucial 2-0 victory. They now just need to avoid defeat at home to Slovakia on Monday to automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup finals.

Great to see Malick Thiaw as well get on the pitch, subbed on in the 79th minute as Woltemade played the full game.

Saturday 15 November

Brazil 2 Senegal 0

Bruno Guimaraes excelling in this friendly at the Emirates Stadium.

A superb performance in defence and attack, with Goal giving no Brazil player a higher rating than the 8 out of 10 they awarded the NUFC star, describing his contribution as; ‘A complete performance by a complete player.’

Switzerland 4 Sweden 1

Anthony Elanga started and played the opening 78 minutes, a match where the Sweden midfield struggled to get control and the defence proving vulnerable. The Newcastle United winger subbed off on 78 minutes with the score at 3-1, whilst Emil Krafth was an unused sub. A shocking story so far with one point from five group matches so far, Sweden will finish bottom unless they win against Slovenia on Tuesday. The Swedes hitting lucky though, as they have managed to fluke a place in the play-offs for these World Cup finals, thanks to Nations League results a while ago.

Sunday 16 November

Albania 0 England 2

Dan Burn picking up his fourth start in this fifth England appearance for the Newcastle defender. The final World Cup group qualifier seeing England the better team but with seven changes made, not quite as fluent. Dan Burn putting in a decent shift and created a great chance that Bellingham should have finished. Harry Kane with two goals in the final 16 minutes of normal time, sealed yet another England victory.

Italy 1 Norway 4

As Gattuso said he would, Sandro Tonali not risked, as a yellow card would have seen him suspended when it came to the play-offs in March 2026 for the World Cup finals.

Only three points between the two teams ahead of this final group match, but Norway had a 17 goal advantage on GD, meaning Italy would have had to win by nine goals to automatically qualify. Italy took the lead but four goals in the second half, including two from Haaland, saw a below strength home side well beaten.

Monday 17 November

Germany 6 Slovakia 0

Nick Woltemade with a power header past Martin Dubravka and Germany never looked back as they sealed qualification for the 2026 World Cup finals.. The striker with his tenth goal of the season so far for club and country. The other five goals scored by Gnabry, Sane (x2), Baku and Ouedraogo.

Big Nick playing the full match, whilst his NUFC teammate Malick Thiaw came on in the 64th minute and kept keep a clean sheet, though picking up a yellow card in the process.

Tuesday 18 November

Sweden v Slovenia (Emil Krafth, ***Anthony Elanga has withdrawn from the squad for personal reasons) World Cup group qualifier

Brazil v Tunisia (Bruno Guimaraes) Friendly at neutral venue (Lille)

Slovakia U21s v England U21s (Lewis Miley, Lewis Hall) U21s European Championship group qualifier