The international break gave us mouth watering clashes in the UNL, with some shocking results along with them. Lets go through few of the matches.
Portugal VS France
Portugal will not defend their Nations League title after missing out on a Finals place due to Saturday’s defeat at home to France.
France booked their place in the Nations League Finals at the expense of holders Portugal as N’Golo Kante’s second international goal secured a 1-0 win in Lisbon.
The World Cup winners and the European champions came into Saturday’s match tied on 10 points at the top of Group A3 through four matches, but the head-to-head primary tie-breaker made this clash pivotal after a goalless draw in France.
Kante’s strike proved the difference as the Chelsea midfielder stepped up in the 53rd minute after the plethora of attacking talent at both ends had misfired.
France went on to beat Sweden 4-2 while Portugal beat Croatia at home 3-2 in their next fixture.
Italy VS Poland
Jorginho’s penalty and a late strike from Domenico Berardi secured a 2-0 victory over Poland in the Nations League.
Italy moved top of Nations League Group A1 heading into the final match day as a Jorginho penalty and Domenico Berardi’s late goal sealed a 2-0 win over 10-man Poland.
With coach Roberto Mancini isolating after testing positive for COVID-19, his team turned in an accomplished display in Reggio Emilia as they extended their unbeaten run to 21 matches.
Belgium VS England
Three Lions’ Nations League Finals hopes ended.
First-half goals from Youri Tielemans and Dries Mertens helped Belgium strengthen their grip on top spot in Nations League Group A2.
England hopes of reaching the Nations League Finals were ended as they suffered a 2-0 defeat to Belgium.
Gareth Southgate’s side needed at least a draw to ensure their chances of topping Group A2 remained alive going into their final game against Iceland.
However, first-half goals from Dries Mertens and Youri Tielemans put the hosts on track for a win that leaves them needing just a point in their final group game against Denmark to reach the Finals.
Spain VS Germany
Germany needed just a draw with Spain to qualify from their Nations League group, but they were resoundingly beaten in Seville.
Ferran Torres scored a hat-trick as Spain secured a place at next year’s Nations League Finals with a 6-0 demolition of Germany on Tuesday.
Alvaro Morata, Rodri and Mikel Oyarzabal were also on the scoresheet in Seville as Joachim Low suffered the heaviest loss of his 14 years in charge.
Germany needed only a point to secure top spot in Group A4 but found themselves 3-0 down by half-time, Spain delivering their best performance under Luis Enrique despite losing Sergio Ramos and Sergio Canales to hamstring problems.
The Final Four
Italy, Belgium, France and Spain to contest the Nations League trophy with the Final Four to be played in October 2021 in Italy.
The identities of the four finalists who will contest next year’s Nations League are now known after the final groups games were played on Wednesday. Italy will host the Final Four after winning Group 1 in League A. The tournament will be played in Italy from 6 to 10 October next year. Joining Italy will be France, Spain and Belgium – the four teams who will be looking to lift the trophy, which was won for the first time by Portugal in 2019.