Germany managed to beat Romania with a lot of effort. Despite no less than 73 percent possession of the ball, a goal by Thomas Müller in the 81st minute finally made the decision: 2-1. With eighteen points from seven games, Germany leads the way in Group J and given the six-point lead over closest pursuers North Macedonia and Armenia, a ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is very close.
During the first meeting between Romania and Germany (0-1) in March, the Mannschaft by a goal by Serge Gnabry as the winner of the battle. Since then, the Germans lost once in the World Cup qualifying cycle: at home with 1-2 against North Macedonia. Partly because of this, Germany is in the lead in Group J and prior to the game in the Volkspark stadium in Hamburg, the lead over Romania was five points. With a penalty kick after Andrei Burca’s foul on Timo Werner, Germany seemed to be able to experience a dream start.
However, after interference from video referee Mete Kalkavan, referee Cüneyt Çakir reversed his decision. Five minutes later, Romania surprisingly took the lead. Ianis Hagi received the ball from a counterattack at the halfway line, got rid of three German opponents and shot the 0-1 against the ropes from inside the penalty area. In the remainder of the first half, Germany had most of the ball possession, but that hardly resulted in chances. Gnabry was closest to the equalizer on the stroke of half-time with a shot that went just wide.
The first big chance after the break was for Romania, which failed to double the margin via George Puscas. Yet Germany managed to clear the deficit with 52 minutes on the clock. Via Leon Goretzka and Marco Reus the ball came at the feet of Gnabry, who made an effective strike from the edge of the penalty area. It was the Bayern Munich attacker’s twentieth goal in his thirtieth international match: only Gerd Müller (36 goals), Klaus Fischer (23 goals) and Fritz Walter (21 goals) scored more often in their first 30 games for the German national team.
After the equalizer, Germany emphatically looked for the lead, which gave Reus and Leroy Sané opportunities. Nicolae Stanciu had a rare chance for Romania in the last fifteen minutes, but with nine minutes to go, the Germans took the lead. A corner from Joshua Kimmich was extended at the near post by Goretzka, allowing Thomas Müller to score the winning goal in the goal mouth. Due to the victory over Romania, Germany can already unofficially secure a World Cup ticket on Monday when visiting North Macedonia.