GERMANY 'SEND MESSAGE' WITH 6-0 SLOVAKIA ROUT TO REACH 2026 WORLD CUP

Germany have laboured past underdog opponents in this campaign but were 4-0 up at half-time and humming in Leipzig.

Leroy Sane struck twice and Nick Woltemade scored for the third straight Germany game.© X 

Germany captain Joshua Kimmich said his side "wanted to send a message" with Monday's 6-0 thumping of Slovakia in Leipzig which sealed their progress to the 2026 World Cup. Leroy Sane struck twice and Nick Woltemade scored for the third straight Germany. The win put Germany through atop Group A and into next year's tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Slovakia finished second and will go into a play-off. "Everyone wanted to send a message today. Everyone knew what was at stake," Kimmich told Germany's ZDF. "In Germany, we're not used to it being difficult to qualify -- that's why I'm very happy with how we played."

Germany have laboured past underdog opponents in this campaign but were 4-0 up at half-time and humming in Leipzig.

Woltemade continued his golden run with the opening goal after 18 minutes. Serge Gnabry added the second 11 minutes later. 

Under pressure Liverpool midfielder Florian Wirtz sparked to life late in the first half, laying on two goals for Sane in five minutes. 

Ridle Baku and debutant Assan Ouedraogo scored in the second half.

"We're relieved. It's a great moment," Woltemade said. "I'm playing, I'm scoring goals and I'm hopefully playing at the World Cup."

"Tonight we showed the quality we have in this team. It was a pleasure," Woltemade, 23, added. 

Germany's win also guarantees the four-time World Cup winners a high seeding that should protect them from an early clash with another of the tournament's big guns. 

"Every player played well today and worked like a dog," coach Julian Nagelsmann said. 

"We showed incredible team spirit and pushed ourselves on the pitch from the very beginning." 

Fifth straight victory

The nature of Germany's fifth straight victory puts a glowing finish on a solid but unimpressive qualifying campaign. 

Germany have been efficient but rarely impressive and needed to avoid defeat on Monday to top their group and qualify directly.

Slovakia had dominated Germany to win 2-0 in the reverse fixture, their first ever competitive victory over the European giants.

Nagelsmann will be buoyed by the performance under pressure while several injured starters will make their way back in the coming months, including Kai Havertz, Jamal Musiala, Antonio Rudiger and Marc-Andre ter Stegen. 

The Germans helped quell the butterflies when Woltemade headed in to break through with 18 minutes gone. 

The strike meant the Newcastle striker had scored Germany's past four goals over three games.

After Slovakia's Michal Duris forced a fingertip save from Germany's Oliver Baumann, Gnabry put the fans in party mood with 29 minutes gone, guiding the ball home to double Germany's lead. 

Wirtz then found Sane with two pinpoint passes to put Germany four up at the break. 

Nagelsmannn took off captain Joshua Kimmich with Germany well in control and his replacement Baku had an immediate impact, blasting in a Gnabry pass two minutes after coming on. 

The Germany coach bought on teenager Ouedraogo with 15 minutes remaining and the RB Leipzig midfielder added a goal and celebrated in front of his home fans.

- Agence France-Presse

BENJAMIN SESKO'S BEHAVIOUR AND ATTITUDE ALREADY CLEAR AS MAN UTD HAVE LEARNED THE TRUTH

Manchester United are set to begin life with Benjamin Sesko leading their frontline in the Premier League, and Ruben Amorim already knows plenty about the Slovenian from his former colleagues

Benjamin Sesko could be set to make his Manchester United debut against Arsenal(Image: YouTube/Sky Sports Premier League)

Eyes will be firmly on Benjamin Sesko when Manchester United host Arsenal in their Premier League curtain-raiser. The Slovenian is set for his Red Devils debut against the Gunners, who themselves chased his signature for months.

This season, the 22-year-old will be leading Ruben Amorim's frontline with the heavy burden of a price tag worth £66.4million with potential add-ons of up to £7.6m on his shoulders. The precocious forward is widely considered to be one of the most exciting young players in Europe.

Now the pressure is as high as it possibly can be, particularly with United in dire need of improvement after a woeful campaign last season. However, if the comments of his former team-mates are anything to go by, the striker certainly has the temperament to succeed.

'Sesko is a cool guy'

Sesko has already made a good impression on Bryan Mbeumo(Image: 2025 Manchester United FC)

Sesko was not the only new forward to arrive at Old Trafford. Former Brentford striker Bryan Mbeumo joined in a deal worth £71m. In one of his first interviews at United, Mbeumo gave his thoughts on Sesko's early contributions to the group, saying: "He looks like a cool guy.

"We’re just being normal, just having normal conversations. He’s a good guy. I think it’s important [to help people settle], especially when you come from another league and you don’t really know [things here].

"I think it’s important to make them feel at home already. I think everyone is doing this naturally, we don’t really calculate anything, but I think this is really important."

Discomfort towards Erling Haaland comparisons

Benjamin Sesko was uncomfortable when told about his team-mates' comparisons between him and Erling Haaland(Image: YouTube/Amazon Prime)

Sesko and Erling Haaland both made their breakthroughs while playing for RB Salzburg, so comparisons between the two were inevitable. Interestingly, he once claimed many of his former colleagues told him he is a better player than the Manchester City hitman, saying: "My team-mates at the club tell me that Haaland and I are very similar, especially in terms of speed. Most of them even tell me that I'm better than him!"

He was reminded of that particular comment during an interview with the The Telegraph. Instead of backing it up, Sesko rowed back on the quote, perhaps with a view of trying to appear more humble. He said: "What should I say? This is comparing me to someone who is one of the best players in the world.

"So, it’s not easy to compare. I would not like to compare myself to anyone. I would just love to be myself and be the best myself.”

United fans will be encouraged by his comments, as it shows he is not looking to get ahead of himself and put himself above other top players, before he has even kicked a ball in the Premier League.

Brilliance in training

Sesko's performances in training throughout his career have impressed team-mates(Image: 2025 Manchester United FC)

Of course, the performances Sesko will be measured by will be his displays at Old Trafford and the rest of the Premier League grounds. However, one comment from his former colleague Ridle Baku will be a huge green flag for United fans.

Many great players such as Eden Hazard were often considered as terrible and lazy trainers, but made up for it with their performances in games. While the latter remains to be seen in the Premier League, many of Sesko's past colleagues have said they've been impressed by his performances and attitude in training sessions.

Baku told FourFourTwo: "Our striker Sesko, I was really impressed, to be honest. The first training session, I knew already that he's a good player.

"But I'm speaking about potential, probably he's not [currently at] potential he could be, but right now, what I saw already, very impressive. He has everything to be a world-class player."

"He's the best I've played with"

Poulsen had some high praise for Sesko(Image: 2025 Getty Images)

Throughout his time at RB Leipzig, Sesko mostly played with experienced Danish forward Yussuf Poulsen. Despite playing with the likes of Christopher Nkunku, Timo Werner and Alexander Sorloth, who all have impressive goalscoring records, Poulsen placed Sesko above all of those.

However, he also admitted the forward is a great player to play alongside, suggesting Sesko is not a selfish player who could grate against his team-mates. Speaking to TNT in December, Poulsen said: "As a striker, he's the best I've played with. If you look at his abilities, he has everything a top number 9 needs.

"He's still young, he still needs to learn, not the technical things about being a striker but maybe more the finesse side. He has everything, strength shooting, technique, everything.

"I like working with him and I'm trying to get him there – he'll go on and score a lot of goals for us and some point go to the club he'll love to play for."

Sesko's behaviour during United links

Sesko's conduct during the transfer sagas impressed United(Image: 2025 Getty Images)

There was plenty of attention on Sesko's transfer saga, but he made few headlines in comparison to fellow strikers Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak. Gyokeres went on strike to force through a move to Arsenal, while Isak has told Newcastle United he will not play for them again, in order to try and secure a move to Liverpool.

However, Sesko did not go out of his way to barrage his way out of Leipzig. While the Bundesliga side did make him train on his own, the Slovenian never went on strike or threatened to take firm action against his side.

Instead, he quietly went about his day job, something which pleased Amorim, according to the Manchester Evening News. Emphasising the importance of Sesko's character, Amorim said: "It is a key point in our way of doing things now. It's not just how they play. It's really important how they play, of course, because that is their job, but their character is really important.

"We took a lot of time to get to know the players and talk with everybody before we brought players into our group. That is going to be a rule and will be massive in our decision to sign a player."

- Patrick Austen-Hardy