Germany boasted an incredible historical record in WCQ matches – particularly when on the road – but that didn’t faze the hosts, who started with purpose and only improved from there.
Not content to allow Julian Nagelsmann’s side to control things, they were particularly effective down the left, where Leo Sauer was causing havoc and called new Germany number one Oliver Baumann into saves on two occasions. The Feyenoord youngster was also unfortunate to see Jonathan Tah block his shot after he got the better of Antonio Rudiger.
Florian Wirtz responded by working his way into the area and attempting to roll inside the near post, but Martin Dubravka saved and kick-started a barnstorming end to the half for Slovakia.
Sauer repeatedly had the beating of debutant Nnamdi Collins, but it was David Hancko who stormed forward, played it out to David Strelec and received it back to finish emphatically inside Baumann’s near post for the opener.
Slovakia might have lost on the previous three occasions that Hancko had scored for his country, but their momentum continued after the restart and soon yielded a remarkable two-goal cushion. Strelec’s first attempt of the half was saved, but Baumann could do nothing about his left-footed curler which nestled into the top corner just a couple of minutes later.
Despite making changes in response, the visitors still couldn’t break down what was a spirited Slovakia rearguard, and only long-range efforts promised any sort of comeback as time ran out.
Slovakia thus make history as just the fourth side to beat Germany in their 105 historical WCQ matches, and the first to take any points off Die Nationalelf in their last 18 such outings on their travels.
The hopes of Francesco Calzona’s men to qualify for a first World Cup since 2010 increase dramatically as a result, and the remainder of Germany’s campaign might need to be perfect if they are to top Group A as expected.
Flashscore Man of the Match: David Strelec (Slovakia)