UEFA Nations League 2022 Archives

England face crushing defeat as Hungary triumph 4-0 in Nations League

WOLVERHAMPTON: England suffered their worst home defeat since 1928 with a 4-0 loss to Hungary in a Group A3 encounter of the UEFA Nations League, here at Molineux Stadium on Tuesday.

The defeat put England at risk of being relegated to the second tier from League A of the Nations League.

Hungary stunned the home side with Rolland Sallai scoring twice to thump England with a humiliating four-goal defeat – the worst since 1928 when England lost 5-1 against Scotland at Wembley

The 25-year-old midfielder Sallai opened the scoring for Hungary inside the first 20 minutes.

England crumbled in the second half as Sallai added a second goal before Zsolt Nagy netted the third in the 80th minute. Daniel Gazdag scored a minute before the final time to widen the margin of lead for his side.

With two points from four games and no victory, England sits at the bottom of group three of League A of Nations League. This includes a 1-0 loss to Hungary in the earlier encounter this month.

Meanwhile, Hungary with seven points, Hungary leads the group, followed by Germany and Italy.

The group winners go to the Nations League finals next June while the bottom team will be relegated to the less glamorous League B.

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Batshuayi’s strike drives Belgium to victory over Poland in Nations League

WARSAW: Michy Batshuayi’s first-half goal propelled Belgium to a 1-0 victory over Poland, keeping his team in contention to advance to the Nations League Finals.

Belgium, despite without several star names including Thibaut Courtois, Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku sealed a comprehensive victory over the home side Poland as Batshuayi stole the show with his early strike.

The forward gave his side an early 1-0 lead after netting the ball just 16 minutes later the commencement of the match.

The two sides then displayed a competitive battle but the scores remained the same till the end as Belgium moved three points within the Netherlands with two group-stage matches remaining.

Although Belgium dominated the majority of the first half, Zalewski came agonisingly close to drawing the score just before the break when he nearly missed with a volley of Robert Lewandowski’s right-wing cross.

Roberto Martínez’s side may come face to face with the Netherlands in the second leg of the league, scheduled in September and may head into a straight shoot-out for qualification.

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Croatia sink France hopes to retain Nations League title after 1-0 triumph

PARIS: France failed to retain the title of UEFA Nations League as their hopes to qualify for the final four were shattered after a home defeat by Croatia in a Group A1 match, here at Stade de France Stadium on Monday.

France’s eagerness to secure their first win in the competition remained unfulfilled as Croatia avenged the World Cup Final loss to rule the World Champions out of the League.

Luka Modric scored the penalty in the fifth minute after Ante Budimir was knocked down inside the area by Ibrahima Konate, which remained the lone goal of the match as Karim Benzema’s side failed to take down the lead.

France have now lost two and drawn two games in the competition to finish at the bottom of Group A1 with two points.

Meanwhile, Denmark top the group on nine points – two points ahead of Croatia – after a 2-0 win over Austria.

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Kramaric equals France lead as Croatia force draw in Nations League

SPLIT: Croatian striker Andrej Kramaric netted the ball in a late penalty to make the reigning World Champions France wait for their first victory of the ongoing UEFA Nations League.

The reigning world champion France are still searching for their first triumph in the tournament as the side, once again witnessed the game slipping out of their hands in the closing minutes as the home side forced a 1-1 draw.

Following the team’s 1-3 defeat against Denmark, the manager Didier Deschamps made changes to the Playing XI with Aurelien Tchouameni the only player, who managed to keep his spot. Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe, on the other hand, also remained as the substitutes.

In the first half of the match, France received a number of chances as Christopher Nkunku saw a goal called back for offside. Moussa Diaby and Tchouameni also had a chance each but the Croatian goalkeeper Ante Budimir responded for the home side and made multiple saves for his side.

Despite having enormous firepower on the bench, France finally managed to make the scoreboard move in the 52nd minute as Adrien Rabiot’s left-footed strike dodged the Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic.

However, just like against Denmark, France lost their way in the match as Jonathan Clauss took Kramaric down in the penalty area and a quick VAR check resulted in the favour of the home side.

Kramaric, despite having the pressure of a second consecutive defeat for Croatia, kept his nerves calm and netted the ball comfortably to give both teams their first points in the tournament.

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