Match ends, Germany 4, Belarus 0.
GermanyGermany4BelarusBelarus0
Toni Kroos scored twice as Germany booked their place at Euro 2020 with a routine victory over Belarus.
Matthias Ginter opened the scoring for the hosts in Monchengladbach before Leon Goretzka doubled their lead.
Real Madrid's Kroos then scored two fine goals to seal a comfortable win.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland's failure to beat the Netherlands means the Dutch have also qualified from Group C, while Northern Ireland must now try to qualify through the play-offs.
Joachim Löw's Germany side dominated from the off at Borussia-Park but the away side, to their credit, defended stubbornly to hold them off until the 41st minute.
But after Ginter broke the deadlock with a clever backheel from Serge Gnabry's cross, Die Mannschaft began to play with a real swagger, knowing their opponents' resilience was broken.
Bayern Munich's Goretzka swept home a Kroos corner early in the second half before the Los Blancos playmaker got on the scoresheet with a sumptuous finish from the edge of the box.
However, after the hosts' third goal went in, Belarus improved and began to open up as they pushed for a goal in their final Euro 2020 qualifier.
And they had a golden opportunity to score with 15 minutes left when Robin Koch felled Pavel Nyakhaychyk, but Manuel Neuer produced a superb save to keep out Ihar Stasevich's penalty.
Kroos then had the final say as he collected a pass in the penalty area, beat a couple of defenders and slotted home to cap his side's victory.
Germany will now play their final qualifier against Northern Ireland in Frankfurt on Tuesday (19:45 GMT) knowing their place in next year's finals is secure.
Line-ups
Germany
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Neuer
- 13Klostermann
- 4Ginter
- 2KochBooked at 75mins
- 14Schulz
- 21Gündogan
- 6Kimmich
- 8Kroos
- 18Goretzka
- 20GnabrySubstituted forWaldschmidtat 84'minutesSubstituted forRudyat 90+1'minutes
- 9WernerSubstituted forBrandtat 68'minutes
Substitutes
- 3Hector
- 5Tah
- 10Brandt
- 11Amiri
- 12Leno
- 15Serdar
- 16Rudy
- 17Stark
- 19Waldschmidt
- 22ter Stegen
Belarus
Formation 4-4-2
- 1Gutor
- 21Matveychik
- 3Martynovich
- 4Naumov
- 5Polyakov
- 7KovalevSubstituted forSkavyshat 78'minutes
- 18Maevski
- 2Dragun
- 23NekhajchikSubstituted forBessmertnyat 84'minutes
- 22Stasevich
- 19LaptevSubstituted forLisakovichat 68'minutes
Substitutes
- 6Bessmertny
- 8Sachivko
- 9Klimovich
- 10Pavlovets
- 11Skavysh
- 12Chichkan
- 13Zolotov
- 14Yablonski
- 15Kislyak
- 16Chernik
- 17Lisakovich
- 20Veretilo
- Referee:
- Orel Grinfeld
- Attendance:
- 33,164
Match Stats
Home TeamGermanyAway TeamBelarus
- Possession
- Home71%
- Away29%
- Shots
- Home31
- Away13
- Shots on Target
- Home10
- Away5
- Corners
- Home11
- Away2
- Fouls
- Home12
- Away7
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Germany 4, Belarus 0.
Post update
Corner, Germany. Conceded by Dmitry Bessmertny.
Post update
Attempt missed. Nikita Naumov (Belarus) header from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left. Assisted by Igor Stasevich with a cross following a corner.
Substitution
Substitution, Germany. Sebastian Rudy replaces Gian-Luca Waldschmidt because of an injury.
Post update
Corner, Belarus. Conceded by Robin Koch.
Post update
Foul by Gian-Luca Waldschmidt (Germany).
Post update
Aleksandr Gutor (Belarus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution
Substitution, Belarus. Dmitry Bessmertny replaces Pavel Nekhajchik.
Substitution
Substitution, Germany. Gian-Luca Waldschmidt replaces Serge Gnabry.
Goal!
Goal! Germany 4, Belarus 0. Toni Kroos (Germany) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Ilkay Gündogan.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Serge Gnabry (Germany) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Ilkay Gündogan.
Substitution
Substitution, Belarus. Maksim Skavysh replaces Yuri Kovalev.
Post update
Foul by Serge Gnabry (Germany).
Post update
Nikita Naumov (Belarus) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Corner, Belarus. Conceded by Manuel Neuer.
Post update
Penalty saved! Igor Stasevich (Belarus) fails to capitalise on this great opportunity, right footed shot saved in the bottom left corner.
Booking
Robin Koch (Germany) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Post update
Penalty conceded by Robin Koch (Germany) after a foul in the penalty area.
Post update
Penalty Belarus. Pavel Nekhajchik draws a foul in the penalty area.
Comments
Join the conversation
I seriously like predictive text but
What I find amazing is the fact in the last few years German clubs have signed so many players from the English youth system
West and in the 1966 World Cup final it was West Germany
I can’t ever remember a time when Germany as they are known since the
two countries were united ever failed to qualify for a major tournament and they are always competitive with the possible players exception of the last World Cup but they will probably be better at the EUROs
Or just spell it Loew which is allowed when umlauts are hard to find
@9 &13 WW2 was some time ago. Just leave it there lads.
Are you serious mate?? If so... well I can't be bothered you're obviously lacking in intelligence and more.
If an attempt at sarcasm or humour..not very good.
* By the way - in your modern 'BELOVED ENGLAND' - the use of the word 'Gerries' might be considered xenophobic / racist / un - PC etc etc.
One thing for sure though, they are there, and they'll always be a threat at a tournament.
I honestly wouldn't want a World cup without Germany.
16 Nov 2019 22:07
From a German: A thrashing of a pretty poor opponent.
-
That's never stopped the ENglish thinking they're world beaters!
Remember a couple of summers ago they beat Panama and Sweden and thought it was "coming home"? Chrortle
Awesome, just awesome.
Hala Madrid!
What are you talking about? The premier League has never been anywhere near Liverpool so how can it be coming home?I think you are talking about the old first division which I believe Leeds still have, being the last winners of it in 1992.
The big boys: Germany, France, Spain, Italy and of course Mighty England all go through.
This leaves the pip squeaks to try and sneak in through the back door.