It seems only fitting for UEFA’s World Cup qualifiers to get in on March Madness because that’s exactly what happened on Wednesday.
No. 65 ranked (albeit by FIFA’s flawed ranking system) North Macedonia handed Germany a stunning 2-1 loss in the group stages of Wednesday’s qualifiers. The win snapped Germany’s 35-game unbeaten streak in World Cup qualifiers, and it also alerted everyone to the fact that there is a NORTH Macedonia. Just a wild game all the way around.
But for Germany, it’ll be difficult to get over this absolutely stunning miss by Timo Werner. The Chelsea forward had an easy goal opportunity set up by Ilkay Gündogan in the 80th minute, and he did this with that chance …
Timo Werner at it again 😭 pic.twitter.com/iGS16w2F2b
— ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) March 31, 2021
On the club side with Chelsea, Werner’s first season in the Premier League has been full of embarrassing misses. But it’ll be tough to top that effort right there in a match that his club coach, German international Thomas Tuchel, was almost definitely watching. The match was tied at the time, and six minutes later, North Macedonia capitalized to take the lead.
North Macedonia lead Germany again!
Just look what it means to them 👏 pic.twitter.com/cv2bdP70NO
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 31, 2021
And they deservedly went wild when the final whistle sounded.
GERMANY LOSE TO NORTH MACEDONIA 🤯
Their 35-game unbeaten streak in WC qualifying games is snapped! pic.twitter.com/Vq3xxBLW96
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 31, 2021
There’s still a long way to go in the group stages, which will run until the November international window, but North Macedonia heads home as the No. 2 team in Group J after three matches.
They have to be thrilled about that. Germany, though, not so much.
