Germany qualifies for 2022 FIFA World Cup, Russia and Croatia clinch playoffs

The four-time World Champions Germany are the first team to join hosts Qatar in the 2022 FIFA  World Cup after Timo Werner scoring twice in the qualifiers against North Macedonia. Croatia settles for a draw against Slovakia.

As Germany became the first country to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, its former under-21 team coach was crying tears of joy after his first win in charge of Turkey. Stefan Kuntz was unable to keep his emotions in check after Burak Yilmaz's penalty in the ninth minute of injury time earned Turkey a dramatic 2-1 win in Latvia to keep its qualification hopes alive.

Germany booked its place on Monday with an error-strewn 4-0 win in North Macedonia. The goals all came in the second half as the home team tired, and the win went some way to atoning for Germany's surprise 2-1 loss to North Macedonia in Duisburg in March. That was the only blip in an otherwise perfect qualifying campaign with seven wins from eight games in Europe Group J.

Germany have officially qualified for the 2022 World Cup