BERLIN (AFP) - A Timo Werner double on Monday helped Germany stamp their ticket for the 2022 World Cup with a 4-0 win over North Macedonia, but Belgium will have to wait until next month after Wales carved out a narrow win in Estonia.
Hansi Flick’s men avenged a shock 2-1 home loss to the Macedonians earlier this year to claim their seventh win in eight qualifiers and take an unassailable eight-point lead at the top of Group J, with two matches remaining.
“We now have five wins from five this season,” Germany coach Hansi Flick told RTL.
Germany went into their match in Skopje knowing that they could secure their passage if they won and Armenia failed to beat Romania.
After a goalless first half, Kai Havertz broke the deadlock five minutes after the interval before Chelsea’s Werner struck twice in three minutes to clinch the tie for the Germans.
His first came on 70 minutes when Thomas Mueller, who had teed up Havertz, flicked the ball into the path of Werner who crashed the ball past Stole Dimitrievski in the Macedonian goal.
Three minutes later, substitute Florian Wirtz got the touch through for Werner to curl his shot past Dimitrievski and chalk up his fifth goal in his last five qualifiers.
Jamal Musiala, 18 years and 227 days old, rounded things off with his first goal in international football, becoming the youngest person to score for Germany since Marius Hiller, then 17, scored against Switzerland in 1910.