Germany qualify for World Cup as England must beat Poland Tuesday

Germany qualify for World Cup as England must beat Poland

Germany sealed a spot at next year’s World Cup with an assured 3-0 win over Ireland on Friday.

Sami Khedira opened scores with a deflected shot in the 12th minute, Andre Schuerrle scored in the 58th after Toni Kroos scooped the ball over the Irish defence, and Mesut Ozil completed the rout on his 50th appearance in injury time.

“It was clear we wanted to book our ticket (for Brazil) today and you could see that from how we approached the game,” said Germany captain Philipp Lahm. “The team showed from the first minute that we wanted to have everything sorted out.”

When Germany last booked their World Cup place in Cologne, they went on to win the tournament with Franz Beckenbauer as coach in 1990.

The hosts should have scored more but found Irish goalkeeper David Forde in excellent form.

“I’m delighted with our boys, I’m just sorry we didn’t score,” said Irish interim coach Noel King, whose side pushed hard for a consolation before Ozil scored.

Sweden clinched second place with a game to spare in Group C after Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored late for a 2-1 win over Austria in Stockholm. Austria finished the game with 10 men after Marco Arnautovic was sent off in the closing minutes. Earlier, the Faeroe Islands drew 1-1 at home against Kazakhstan in a game that had no bearing on qualifying.

Despite missing a host of players through injury, Germany dominated against Ireland, particularly in the first half with more than 75 percent possession and 13 shots on goal compared to two from the visitors.

Lahm put in a captain’s performance, and it was his interception from an ambitious Irish pass that set up Khedira to score. It seemed just a matter of time before the second goal arrived but the visitors went closest just before the break when Ciaran Clark struck the crossbar with a header after a free kick and Anthony Stokes missed the rebound.

In London, England’s gamble on Andros Townsend paid off as the winger capped an impressive debut by scoring in a 4-1 victory over Montenegro on Friday that kept the host in control of its pursuit of World Cup qualification.

Heading into the final round of matches in Group H, England has a one-point lead over Ukraine, which beat Poland 1-0, with both ensured of at least making the playoff to reach the finals in Brazil.

With Ukraine expected to easily overcome bottom-place San Marino on Tuesday, England will have to beat Poland on Tuesday to qualify automatically.

“The job is half done if we want to qualify direct,” England coach Roy Hodgson said.

England only came to life after the break at Wembley Stadium, when Wayne Rooney put the hosts in front and Montenegro midfielder Branko Boskovic turned the ball into his own net.                           

— AP