Hansi Flick's Germany made it eight wins in nine matches over the World Cup qualifying campaign as they thrashed Liechtenstein 9-0 in Wolfsburg and crowned their already certain participation in the 2022 World Cup with an impressive performance. All four Bayern players in the squad were in the starting XI: Manuel Neuer and double goalscorer Thomas Müller played the full 90 minutes, Leon Goretzka completed a half, while Leroy Sané - who scored his first brace in a Germany jersey - came off after 64 minutes.
Ahead of kick-off, a fond farewell was bid to long-serving national team coach Joachim Löw, who was in charge of Germany from 2006 to 2021 and led it to the 2014 World Cup win.
German goal machine
His former charges, now coached by ex-Bayern boss Flick (six games, six wins), took the lead through an Ilkay Gündogan penalty on 11 minutes. It was given after Jens Hofer caught Goretzka on the neck with a high foot in the box, and the defender was shown a straight red card for the offence. This was followed by the Germans' best phase of the match, with three goals in four minutes. First Christian Günter forced an own goal by Daniel Kaufmann with a cross (20'), then Sané scored after some wonderful link-up play with Goretzka (22'), before Marco Reus made it 4-0 just a minute later.
Brace scorer Müller: The veteran was happy with his two goals and a "great and harmonious evening".
In the second half, the Dortmund player provided a superb assist for the lively Sané (49'), who continued the goal fest with a fifth. Müller (76'/86'), Ridle Baku with a brilliant strike (80') and an 89th-minute own goal from Maximilian Göppel rounded off the 9-0 score.
Sarr's Senegal remain unbeaten
Bayern defender Bouna Sarr played the full 90 minutes in his third appearance for Senegal in the World Cup qualifiers and remained unbeaten for the third time. Habib Diallo's last-minute effort (90'+3) secured a point for Senegal in Togo, where Pape Cissé scored an own goal in first-half stoppage time. The 1-1 draw means Sarr's team are already certain to win their group with 13 points after five games and are therefore through to the final qualifying round to get to the tournament in Qatar.
Nianzou and Sarr were on international duty in France and in Togo.
Nianzou defeated by Germany
Bayern defender Tanguy Nianzou suffered a 3-2 defeat to Germany's youngsters in an U20 international at the French Football Federation (FFF) national football centre in Clairefontaine. Yoann Cathline (19') and Mohamed Achi (77') scored for the French on Thursday afternoon, while Paul Nebel (20'), Faride Alidou (53') and Ransford Königsdörffer (84') were successful for the Germans, who didn't use any Bayern players. Nianzou played the full 90 minutes for the Équipe Tricolore.
Stanišić misses out on Croatia's scoring spree
Croatia enjoyed an emphatic 7-1 win in Malta in their quest to pip Russia to the top spot in their group. Ivan Perišić, Duje Caleta-Car, Mario Pašalić, Luka Modrić, Andrej Kramarić all scored for the visitors, as did Lovro Majer with a brace. FCB defender Josip Stanišić was in the squad but didn't play.
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