Overview

• Kickoff is at 20:45 CET, with free-to-air coverage on ARD and a stream on sportschau.de featuring host Esther Sedlaczek, analyst Bastian Schweinsteiger and commentator Philipp Sohmer.
• Julian Nagelsmann labeled Germany the group favorite and said he expects a dominant qualifying campaign that leaves no doubts in each match.
• First-time call-ups Finn Dahmen, Nnamdi Collins and Paul Nebel are included in the squad.
• Germany sits on 1716.38 FIFA ranking points in a close battle with Croatia (1707.51) and Italy (1702.58) for ninth, a position tied to pot placement for the December 5 World Cup draw in Washington if direct qualification is secured.
• Ranking math is volatile, with a defeat in Bratislava estimated to cost 18.07 points versus a gain of about 6.93 for a win, and the decisive ranking snapshot will come after the qualifying round concludes in November across two fixtures each against Slovakia, Northern Ireland and Luxembourg.