Slovakia humiliate Germany at home

Germany went down to a shock 2-0 defeat in Slovakia in their opening World Cup qualifier on Thursday, while Spain kicked off their bid to reach next year's finals with a comfortable 3-0 victory in Bulgaria.

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Atletico Madrid’s David Hancko burst untracked into the penalty box to fire Slovakia into the lead just before halftime against Germany in Bratislava.

David Strelec, who has just signed for Middlesbrough in the English Championship, then made it two with a brilliant strike high into the top corner 10 minutes into the second half.

The result gives Slovakia a dream start in Group A as they attempt to qualify for a first World Cup since 2010.

Germany, meanwhile, find themselves immediately under pressure even if this game was their hardest fixture in the group on paper.

“We haven't had a great history in recent years and we should have realised that if we want to go to the World Cup and play a good role. Today, we were miles away,” said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Germany have gone out of each of the last two World Cups in the group stage, but have never failed in a qualifying campaign.