UEFA Nations League: Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk scored the winner in the second half as the Oranje handed Belgium a 1-0 defeat and secured their place in next year’s UEFA Nations League finals tournament.
Coming into the match, Belgium knew they had to win by 3 goals to leapfrog the Netherlands and go through to the next stage. However, with both teams being very rigid to give any space to the opponents, the game never looked like it would be a goal-fest. Yet Belgium had a good start in the first half and created a few opportunities to trouble Dutch custodian Onana. However, they were not able to take their chances.
In the second half, Netherlands improved heavily and started to create some of their own chances. It was finally in the 73rd minute of the game that the Liverpool defender van Dijk leapt over his marker (Zeno Debast) and headed a delivery from Coady Gakpo home.
Belgium then came really close to snatching one point from the match but Dodi Lukebakio’s last-minute effort was not enough. With the win, the Netherlands have now got 16 points from six matches and qualified for the UEFA Nations League Finals. Meanwhile, Belgium finished in second place with ten points from six matches.
UEFA Nations League: Wales relegated from League A
In the other match of Group A4, Wales suffered a narrow 1-0 loss against Robert Lewandowski’s Poland. As a result, Robert Page’s team got relegated to the lower division and is now without a win in the last five games.
After securing a World Cup spot for the first time since 1958, Wales were playing their final match before the mega event in front of a big home crowd. However, that wasn’t enough to startle a Poland team that will also take part in the upcoming World Cup.
Both the teams had a decent start and kept on matching each other out. Finally in the second half, Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski’s exceptional flick found his team Karol Swiderski, who blasted it into the goal. After the goal, Wales brought on Kieffer Moore and tried to do things differently.
They came very close to getting a goal when their talismanic forward, Gareth Bale hit the woodwork in the final minutes of the game. Poland then managed to hold on and finished their Nations league campaign in third place.
Croatia qualified and France suffered a loss
Luka Modric’s Croatia handed Austria a 3-1 loss and qualified for the next stages of the UEFA Nations League.
Croatia drew the first blood in the match threw their captain Luka Modric. However, within minutes, Christoph Baumgartner scored the equaliser for Austria. Then Croatia suffered a setback as Marcelo Brozovic had to leave the field due to an injury. The game ended 1-1 in the first half.
Finally, in the 69th minute of the game, Marko Livija restored the lead for Croatia. Then within three minutes, Dejan Lovren doubled Croatia’s lead as Croatia registered a 3-1 victory against Austria at the Ernst Happel Stadion. With this loss, Austria have now been related to the next division.
Meanwhile, in the other match of Group A1, defending champions France lost 2-0 against Denmark. After a decent start to the match, Kasper Dolberg opened the scoring for Denmark in the 33rd minute. Andreas Skov Olsen then made it 2-0 in the 39th minute.
Even after going down 2-0, France failed to create much as Denmark registered a comfortable win at the home. Interestingly, both France and Denmark have been drawn into the same group at the World Cup and will again meet on 26th November.