A loss and a win for Germany quartet
While a number of VfB players are still away with their national teams, Alexander Nübel, Maximilian Mittelstädt, Angelo Stiller and Jamie Leweling already completed their first two qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Sunday night. Mittelstädt (90 minutes) and Stiller (60 minutes) both started in the 2-0 defeat to Slovakia in the opening match, while Leweling (90 minutes) played a key role in the team’s 3-1 victory over Northern Ireland.
Successful qualifiers for 2026 World Cup
Ermedin Demirovic was also in World Cup qualifying action with Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday. The VfB forward played an hour as his side eased to a comfortable 6-0 win over San Marino. New signing Bilal El Khannouss is also on course to qualify for next summer’s tournament in the USA, Canada and Mexico. He earned a convincing 5-0 win over Niger with Morocco, in which he featured for 23 minutes, as well as a 2-0 success against Zambia, where he was named in the starting line-up. Likewise, Serbia were victorious in their qualifier against Latvia, winning 1-0 in Riga. Lazar Jovanovic was not involved.
Jeltsch, Hellstern and Chema victorious with youth teams
VfB defender Finn Jeltsch, who is part of the German U21 squad, registered a 2-0 win against Albania in qualifying for the 2027 UEFA U21 Championship (45 minutes). VfB’s U21 keeper Florian Hellstern, meanwhile, celebrated a 3-1 victory over Italy with Germany U19s.
Summer signing Chema registered an assist and played 23 minutes for Spain U21s in a 3-0 win in their first Euro qualifier against Cyprus.