Here are the player ratings for Slovakia vs Germany from big German sports paper Bild following Die Mannschaft’s shock loss in World Cup 2026 qualifying. This September 2025 2:0 defeat to Slovakia was the first time in 52 games that the Germans had lost an away WC qualifier.
Slovakia Germany 2:0 (Hancko 42, Strelec 55)
Not surprisingly, most of Germany’s starters painted a sorry figure in newspaper Bild’s player ratings- as many as five players, including new NUFC signing Nick Woltemade and midfield veteran Leon Goretzka, got the worst possible 6 player rating under the German system.

Germany’s best player aganst Slovakia in this WCQ, according to Bild, was keeper Baumann, and even he managed only a 3.
The paper was full of praise for the Slovakian players, with Feyenoord’s Sauer and Middlesbrough goal scorer Strelec getting the perfect 1 player rating.
For comparison, here are also Kicker’s player ratings for this same Slovakia 2:0 Germany game. The main difference between Bild and Kicker comes in the ratings for Mittelstadt- he got a 3.5 in Kicker, but a 5 in Bild. Kicker were also less liberal in their rating of the Slovakian players- Rosenborg’s Duris got a 2 in Bild, but a 4 in Kicker.

The Germans only really stepped up in the second half (8 shots to 1 in the second half) and didn’t trouble Slovakia in the first half. They finished with 70% possession, but didn’t have a goal to show for all that ball possession.