Cologne, Germany: Coach Joachim Loew says Germany have a score to settle against Sweden on Tuesday having already secured their place at the World Cup.

Germany booked their Brazil berth on Friday with a 3-0 win over a battling Republic of Ireland in Cologne with goals by Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira, Chelsea’s Andre Schuerrle and Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil.

Second-placed Sweden’s 2-1 win at home to Austria leaves Group C winners Germany five points clear ahead of their final qualifier against the Swedes in Stockholm and the Germans want revenge.

When the sides last met in Berlin last October, Germany raced into a 4-0 lead only for Zlatan Ibrahimovic to spark a fight back as the Swedes scored four second-half goals and equalised in the 93rd minute.

“The [German] team has done well and we’re happy to qualify, but we definitely have a score to settle against Sweden,” said Loew.

“I’ll see how the players come out of this match, I might switch things up depending on that, but we want to win in Sweden.”

The win over Ireland leaves Germany unbeaten in their last 31 qualification matches for either a World Cup or European Championships dating back to their 3-0 defeat to the Czech Republic in October 2007.

“We’re obviously very happy to qualify, but it probably won’t sink in until next year,” said Germany vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Goal-scorer Schuerrle admitted it had been a tough night against Noel King’s battling Irish.

“We knew the Irish would play defensively, we had to be patient until we eventually found holes in their wall,” said the Chelsea winger as Germany enjoyed 75 per cent possession.

Irish goalkeeper David Forde of Millwall had a busy night as Germany fired in 28 shots compared to the guests’ 12.

With both strikers Miroslav Klose and Mario Gomez injured, Loew opted to start Ozil up front and the central midfielder struggled on occasion before adding the late third goal.

“We experimented with him a little and he didn’t have a lot of opportunities during the game but took his chance well at the end,” said Loew of Ozil.

Chelsea winger Schuerrle also made his mark with a well-taken goal after central midfielder Toni Kroos had chipped the defence to find Schuerrle onside and the Chelsea winger fired past Forde on 58 minutes.

“I had told Andre before the game that I expect a bit more from him — and he showed me that with his goal,” said Loew.