Germany and Austria back in action in WCQ

Four Foals will play World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday evening (20:45 CEST). Switzerland will end the international break with a friendly.

GERMANY

Matthias Ginter and Florian Neuhaus will represent Germany once again on Wednesday evening (20:45 CEST). They take on North Macedonia in Duisburg on the road to Qatar 2022. Germany will be looking to make it nine points out of nine after the 3-0 win over Iceland and the 1-0 win against Romania. Head coach Joachim Löw warned against complacency in the upcoming fixture, however: “I’ve made sure the team know what is required. I have to admit that they are clearly a worse side than Romania though. They have some really refined technical players in their ranks. It will be a show of strength for us to win this match.” While Germany lead group J with six points, level with Armenia, North Macedonia sit in third with three points after a loss in Romania (3-2) and a win over Liechtenstein (5-0).

SWITZERLAND

The Switzerland national team see out the international break with a friendly against Finland in St. Gallen on Wednesday evening (20:45 CEST). Nico Elvedi, Denis Zakaria and Breel Embolo could be involved for the hosts. The “Nati” won 3-1 in their last fixture, a World Cup qualifier against Bulgaria. Prior to that, there was also a 1-0 win against Lithuania. Borussia’s no. 1 Yann Sommer kept goal in both games before travelling home to Mönchengladbach. He will therefore be unavailable to Switzerland boss Vladimir Petkovic.

AUSTRIA

World Cup qualifying continues for Stefan Lainer und Valentino Lazaro this evening (20:45 CEST). In their third World Cup qualifier, they take on Denmark at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna. Denmark lead group F with six points, two points ahead of Austria who have so far drawn 2-2 with Scotland and beaten the Faroe Islands 3-1. “It will be an exciting game in which the small details could be decisive. First of all, it is important for us to be compact and keep the wide players under control at all times. There will be plenty of work for our full-backs,” said Austria head coach Franco Foda. Stefan Lainer has been trusted in that position in both fixtures so far this international break. “On top of that we have to develop our attacking play. We want to be more active in possession, braver and more determined - especially at home.”