The Germany women continued their flawless record in World Cup qualifying, beating Portugal 3-0 in Bielefeld. The team’s seventh win in their seventh game saw them open up a six-point lead at the top of Group H. Head coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s team are on track to qualify for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, with only the first-place team in each group guaranteed to qualify. On Tuesday, Germany will have a chance to seal their place at next year’s tournament as they get set to face Serbia (16:00 CEST).
After a strong start, it took until the 40th minute for Lena Oberdorf to open the scoring. Germany continued to dominate the game after the break, with Klara Bühl (55’) and Felicitas Rauch (80’) adding their names to the scoresheet.
Strong start
Voss-Tecklenburg had announced during the pre-match press conference that Merle Frohms would start in goal, with Kathrin Hendrich and Jana Feldkamp lining up at centre-back in a 4-3-3. Dzsenifer Marozsán started at right wing, having missed the Arnold Clark Cup in February through injury. Captain Svenja Huth, Tabea Waßmuth and Klara Bühl all lined up in attack.
Germany started strong, putting Portugal under pressure high up the pitch, which led to several good chances early on. Goalkeeper Ines Teixeira Pereira was able to parry a shot from Huth, with Waßmuth just missing the rebound (2‘). Three minutes later, Bühl was able to get off a shot from 15 meters out, forcing Pereira into another save. Germany were dominating the play early on, as Lina Magull sent a header into Pereira’s arms (8’).
Chances go begging
The guests recorded their first chance in the 12th minute, as Jessica Silva took a shot that was easily saved by Frohms. Portugal had managed to find their bearings in defence, after being rattled by a strong start from the hosts. Waßmuth was able to play through Bühl, but her shot went wide of goal (22’).
Germany continued to record chance after chance, as Huth tried to pick out Bühl with a cross, but the latter just missed getting on the end of it (31‘). Portugal were trying to press the hosts higher up the pitch, looking to win the ball at the half-way line in order to go on the attack, but Germany were able to head them off.
Oberdorf heads in the opener
After it had been coming for a while, Lena Oberdorf was able to score the deserved opener for Germany in the 40th minute. Wolfsburg teammate Huth picked out the 20-year-old with a pinpoint cross, as she headed in to score her third international goal.
Germany remained in control after the change of ends, with Huth continuing to play a key role in attack. She found Magull with another cross, but the Bayern captain’s header was saved by Pereira (47’).
Bühl scores a stunner - Popp makes her comeback
Giulia Gwinn did well to push down the right wing before cutting a pass back to Bühl inside the area. The striker struck the ball perfectly to volley home Germany’s second of the match (55’). Minutes later, Alexandra Popp came off the bench to make her comeback for the national team. The striker, who had been out with a knee injury for the last year, replaced Marozsán (59’).
A dominant performance from Germany saw them create several good chances as the match went on. In the 80th minute, it was Rauch who would net the third and final goal of the game, once again converting a cross from Huth. With the win, Germany remain in firm control of top spot in Group H, and could now secure their place at the 2023 World Cup with a positive result against Serbia on 12th April.