Northern Ireland are top of Group A after as group favourites Germany were shocked by Slovakia in the opening games of World Cup qualifying.
Germany were beaten 2-0 in Bratislava, leaving boss Julian Nagelsmann facing more questions over his squad.
David Hancko put Slovakia in front shortly before half-time before Middlesbrough forward David Strelec curled home a fine second goal after 55 minutes to ultimately complete the win.
Meanwhile, Justin Devenny and Shea Charles scored their first international goals as Northern Ireland opened their campaign with a 3-1 win in Luxembourg.
An early Jamie Reid strike was cancelled out by Aiman Dardari, but Charles struck less than 30 seconds into the second half, and after Luxembourg defender Seid Korac was shown a second yellow card, Devenny’s 69th-minute strike secured Northern Ireland’s first competitive away win since March 2023.
It earned three points an injury-hit Northern Ireland team knew they needed to secure ahead of Sunday’s trip to Cologne to face Germany.
Reid scored from the spot when Korac slipped in the box. Referee Andris Treimanis was told to check the screen by VAR Kristas Ratnieks as the defender handled after slipping.
Anthony Moris saved Isaac Price’s penalty but Reid pounced on the rebound for his first competitive international goal.
Luxembourg levelled when Daniel Sinani’s neat flick released Dardari, who skipped beyond Paddy McNair as he cut in from the left to hit a low shot beyond Bailey Peacock-Farrell, who was making his first Northern Ireland appearance in a year in the absence of Pierce Charles and Conor Hazard.
Northern Ireland responded immediately after the restart.
Conor Bradley’s low cross deflected out to Charles and the Southampton midfielder’s strike took a nick off the hapless Korac on its way in.
Luxembourg went down to 10 when, having already been booked in the aftermath of the early penalty decision, Korac tangled with Reid as they contested a high ball. Reid went down holding his face, but a second yellow card looked harsh.
Northern Ireland did not care, and after Charles pumped forward the resulting free-kick, it fell to Devenny to lash home from close range.
Wales also went top of Group J with a hard-fought 1-0 win away to Kazakhstan. Kieffer Moore marked his 50th cap with a 24th-minute goal as Wales held out after Kazakhstan twice hit the crossbar during the second half.
Spain cruise to win as Cash scores for Poland
European champions Spain coasted to a 3-0 win in their Group E opener away to Bulgaria.
La Roja took an early lead at the Vasil Levski National Stadium when Mikel Oyarzabal struck after just five minutes.
Chelsea wing-back Marc Cucurella drilled home a second on the half-hour before Arsenal midfielder Mikel Merino headed in a third from a corner to put the Nations League runners-up in control.
Turkey had earlier won 3-2 in Georgia, where they finished with 10 men.
Mert Muldur’s header gave the visitors a third-minute lead with Kerem Akturkoglu then striking twice either side of the break.
Zuriko Davitashvili pulled a goal back just after the hour before tempers flared in the 71st minute. Turkey substitute Baris Alper Yilmaz was shown a red card for a late challenge on Giorgi Kochorashvili – with Georgia manager Willy Sangol then sent from the dugout for his protests.
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia struck a late second for Georgia deep into added time.
Aston Villa defender Matty Cash fired in a late equaliser as Poland fought back to draw 1-1 with the Netherlands in Rotterdam.
Denzel Dumfries headed the Oranje – who had won their opening two games – in front from a 28th minute corner. Cash, though, secured a point when he drilled an angled shot into the top corner with 10 minutes left.
Lithuania scored a stoppage-time penalty to snatch a 1-1 draw with Malta in Kaunas – where both sides had a player sent off during a chaotic ending.
Belgium later thrashed Liechtenstein 6-0 to make it two wins from their three games so far.
Maxim De Cuyper’s header set Belgium on their way in the first half. Youri Tielemans scored twice after the break while Arthur Theate, Kevin De Bruyne and Malick Fofana were also on target.
