Germany close to qualification

The Germans killed off the game in a whirlwind first half, scoring three times in the opening 21 minutes, and can wrap up qualification away to second-placed Northern Ireland, who beat the Czech Republic 2-0. 

Four-time world champion Germany, which also scored through Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler, Leon Goretzka and Mario Gomez, need a point from their last two games -- in Belfast and three days later at home to Azerbaijan -- to book their ticket to Russia. The Irish is five points behind the Germans, which has a maximum 24. The group winner qualifies directly for the finals while the eight best second-placed teams in the nine groups go into a playoff round. 

It was one-way traffic from the start as Germany wanted to put last week’s scrappy 2-1 win in the Czech Republic behind it and Ozil’s 10th minute shot opened the floodgates. Draxler made no mistake with a fine turn and low drive in the 17th during a frantic opening spell.Werner, who was booed by a small group of German fans during the game in Prague on Friday, made it 3-0 four minutes later with the Norwegians in a daze and the Stuttgart native grabbed his sixth goal in his eighth international as he headed in a cross five minutes before the break. 

Goretzka headed home Draxler’s cross in the 50th and fellow substitute Gomez had time to get on the scoresheet himself with yet another header to cap a dominant performance by the hosts. Marcus Rashford’s superb second-half strike earned England a 2-1 comeback victory over Slovakia in London on Monday.