In a group with Slovakia, North Ireland and Luxembourg, Germany would always be the favourites but in this era of football, even Luxembourg can be a thorn in the flesh of any big names.

Germany had never lost a World Cup qualifier away from home coming into this game and in 52 previous matches. Nagelsmann and his team were handed a 2-0 defeat in a disappointing evening in their first qualifier for 2026 World Cup. This defeat against Slovakia becomes their fourth loss overall from 104 qualifying games.

It also marked Germany’s first three-game competitive losing streak in their 117-year history with fans wishing it only gets better from here. The ruthless approach of Nagelsmann seems to be lost in his team in recent times.

Slovakia’s tails were up and they were handed an opening when Antonio Rüdiger misread a pass and allowed Sauer to get through on goal but he saw his shot blocked by Jonathan Tah, moments after Leon Goretzka had an effort saved at the other end.

Florian Wirtz after a solo effort coupled with brilliance managed a shot at goal but was stopped by the Slovakian shot-stopper Dubravka.

“Maybe we really do need to rely less on quality and instead on players who just give everything, because that would have led to better results today than if the best players played,” said Nagelsmann.

Germany now needs to win all of its remaining five games to avoid the playoffs, and surely something the team would not want to go through.

North Ireland on the other fixture sailed easily past Luxembourg with a 1-3 victory to book the top of the table.