Germany vs Romania

High-flying Germany will take on an improving Romania side at the Volksparkstadion in a high-stake World Cup qualification Group J showdown.

Germany picked themselves up from an underwhelming 2-1 home loss to North Macedonia in March, surging four points clear at the top of World Cup qualification Group J on the back of Hansi Flick’s appointment. The ex-Bayern Munich boss took over the managerial reins from Joachim Low following Germany’s Euro 2020 fiasco. Since arriving at the helm of the national team in September, Flick has guided ‘Die Mannschaft’ to three consecutive World Cup qualifying triumphs by an aggregate score of 12-0. The four-time world champions are two victories away from mathematically booking their place in next year’s showpiece, and a return of just three defeats from their 100 historical World Cup qualifying fixtures sums up their favorite status in a nutshell. Additionally, the Germans are unbeaten in their last three competitive H2Hs (W2, D1).

On the other hand, Romania experienced an impressive September international break, keeping a clean sheet in all three World Cup qualifying matches last month (W2, D1). Both of those victories yielded the identical 2-0 scoreline, highlighting the importance of scoring first. Romania’s recent form represents a significant turnaround on their early showings in the ongoing World Cup qualifying campaign, having lost two of their first three Group J fixtures (W1, L2) beforehand. Sitting just a single point adrift of second-placed Armenia, the ‘Tricolours’ are very much in contention for clinching their place at the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998. Despite their underdog status in this encounter, Romania can draw confidence from registering back-to-back shutouts away from home in the competition (W1, D1).