Germany has to win against Serbia and the Netherlands in the Nations League to reach the quarter-finals

After the 0-0 draw in Greece, the national soccer team remains in pursuit in the Nations League behind the Netherlands and Greece. Third place in Group 2 of the A-League is not enough to reach the quarter-finals, which national coach Jürgen Klopp has set as his goal. Holland and Greece each have eight points, the DFB team has five. Serbia is bottom of the table with no points.

How do you make it to the knockout round?

In order to make it to the quarter-finals and thus have a chance of reaching the final tournament with four teams in June 2027, the DFB team must win the remaining games against the Netherlands on November 13th in Serbia and on November 16th in Berlin in the best possible way. Otherwise you would also be dependent on the results of the Greek games against the Netherlands and Serbia.

Two wins might not be enough

However, even two successes are not necessarily enough to advance. In the event of a tie, the first thing that counts is the direct comparison between the teams concerned, then the better goal difference from the direct comparisons and then the higher number of goals scored from the games between them. Only when all of these criteria are the same will the goal difference from all games be counted.

Germany has already lost the two-way tie with Greece after the 0-1 in the first leg and the zero result in Thessaloniki. However, a scenario is possible in which Germany, the Netherlands and Greece each end up with eleven points and would each have five points from the direct comparisons.

This happens if Germany wins against Serbia and the Netherlands and the Netherlands beats Greece and Greece wins against Serbia - not an unrealistic scenario. Then every goal would possibly be decisive in the final score, for example a German victory with a two-goal lead against Holland would be necessary.

Klopp isn't thinking about November yet

Klopp didn't want to think that far ahead after the second leg against the Greeks in Thessaloniki. “I haven’t thought for a second about the games in November,” said the national coach.

Quick European Championship qualification or relegation playoffs

As third in the table, the DFB team would have to compare with the three other third-placed teams in the A-League so that we know what will happen next in the competition. The two better third parties finish the Nations League and start qualifying for the European Championship 2028 in March. The two worse third parties have to go into the relegation playoffs to the B League against a second-placed team from the lower league.