Early Sunday evening, the Nations League group games ended with two groups in the B division, in which: Before the last round, the English and Austrians were in the best situation. For the “Sons of Albion” it was enough to win at home against Ireland to advance, and for the Austrians it was enough to win at home against Slovenia, without having to look at their rivals. The Greeks and Norwegians were waiting for the favorites to stumble.
Haaland's hattrick gives victory and advancement for Norway. Austria's drama at the end
The latter had great reasons to be happy after the last whistle of the home match against Stanisław Cherchesov's Kazakhstan. The Scandinavians easily defeated their opponent in Oslo 5-0, even without Martin Odegaard. However, Erling Haaland, the author of the hat-trick, took matters into his own hands. The other goals for the hosts were scored by Alexander Sorloth and Antonio Nusa.
If the Norwegians won, they still had to count on a setback between Austria and Slovenia. For a long time there was no indication of this – the Austrians were leading 1-0 for a long time after Romano Schmid's goal in the 27th minute. However, at the very end they put themselves in their shoes after a terrible mistake by goalkeeper Patrick Pentz. Brondby's goalkeeper, under pressure, passed to the rivals' speeding right-back Zan Karnicnik, who after a quick action passed the ball perfectly to the substitute Adam Gnezda Cerin, who scored 1-1 from a few meters in the 81st minute. This result remained until the very end, which meant that Austria fell to second place and could be Poland's rival in the play-offs for the A division, unless, of course, the White and Reds lose to Scotland on Monday. Slovenia will participate in the play-offs to stay in the B division, while Cherchesov's Kazakhstan fell to the C division with a bang and with only one point.
England as Portugal with Poland. Five goals in the second half, including three in five minutes
In another group of division B, the England team left no doubts to their rivals. In the match against Ireland at Wembley, without Thomas Tuchel (he will start in 2025), she dominated from the first to the last minute, but, like Portugal in the match against Poland, she scored all five goals for a 5-0 victory after the break.
In the 51st minute, misfortune began to fall on the Irish in droves. Then Liam Scales fouled Jude Bellingham in the penalty area, for which he received a second yellow and a red card. Of course, Harry Kane converted the penalty two minutes later.
In the next five minutes, the hosts added two more goals by Anthony Gordon and Conor Gallagher, and in the last quarter of an hour the result was scored by Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis. The hero of the match was Jude Bellingham, who scored a penalty to make it 1-0 and then assisted in his team's last two goals.
England's victory means that the only team in the play-offs for the A division will be the sensational Greece, which won five of the six games in the group competition, including against the English at Wembley. At the end of the competition, the Greeks defeated Finland away 2-0, with Anastasios Bakasetas and Christos Tzolis scoring goals in the second half.
The Finns fell to division C without a point, while Ireland will have a chance to stay in division B through the play-offs.
Sunday's results revealed the first two teams (England and Norway) that directly advanced to the A division, as well as the two teams (Greece and Austria) that will fight for it in the play-offs. We will only know the full set of these teams on Tuesday, and we will also know whether the Polish national team will play in the play-offs.
From group B1, the Czech Republic, Albania and Georgia have a chance to advance directly, and Ukraine, fourth place, may also be in the play-offs. Group B4 will be won by Türkiye or Wales, and the second place, apart from one of the above, may also be taken by Iceland.
Results of Sunday's matches in the B division of the Nations League:
Group B2:
- England – Ireland 5-0 (Kane 53'-k., Gordon 56', Gallagher 58', Bowen 76', Harwood-Bellis 79')
- Finland – Greece 0:2 (Bakasetas 52', Tzolis 56')
Table:
- England – 6 matches, 15 points, goals 16:3;
- Greece – 6, 15 points, 11:4;
- Ireland – 6, 6 points, 3:12;
- Finland – 6, 0 points, 2:13.
Group B3:
- Austria – Slovenia 1:1 (Schmid 27' – Gnezda Cerin 81')
- Norway – Kazakhstan 5-0 (Haaland 23', 37', 71', Sorloth 41', Nusa 76')
Table:
- Norway – 6 games, 13 points, goals 15:7;
- Austria – 6, 11 points, 14:5;
- Slovenia – 6, 8 points, 7:9;
- Kazakhstan – 6, 1 point, 0:15;