Eight teams in division A advanced to the quarterfinals of this year's Nations League. The following players retained a chance to triumph in this competition: the Portuguese, Croatians, French, Italians, Spaniards, Danes, as well as the teams that finished their group competitions on Tuesday: the Dutch and Germans.
End of the group stage in division A. Here are the full set of quarterfinalists
Ronald Koeman's players went to the Bosnian team Zenica. They wanted to end 2024, such a successful year for them, with a bang. The Dutch, who arrived in July semi-final Euro 2024, on Saturday evening they defeated the Hungarians 4-0. On Tuesday, they faced the Bosnians, who had just scored seven goals from the Germans and had the worst defense in the Nations League.
Favorite match so there was one and the guests could take the lead already in the 7th minute. Stefan de Vrij was in the penalty area. His shot was very strong, but Martin Zlomislić was not surprised. What the Inter Milan defender failed to achieve, Brian Brobbey managed to achieve. The central striker of the Dutch national team found his way perfectly into the goal area, jumped over the defender and hit the net with a header from close range. Assisted by Noa Lang.
Unexpectedly, even before the break, the Bosnians could equalize. Edin Dzeko was literally centimeters away from a goal. The ball was kicked off the goal line by Jorel Hato. Just before the change of sides, Joshua Zirkzee and the already mentioned Brobbey could have increased the result. However, both attempts stopped at the Bosnian defenders.
In the second half of the match, Edin Dzeko beat Flekken, but he was offside. The goal was disallowed. However, the Bosniaks finally achieved their goal. Ermedin Demirović scored a goal in the 67th minute. This hit determined the result of the match. The Bosnians, who are relegated from the A division, say goodbye to this level of competition with honor.
Much less happened in Budapest. The Germans, who defeated the Bosnians 7-0 in the last match, did not intend to push the pace this time. The Hungarians looked like a team that wanted to avoid a repeat of the last match they lost to the Netherlands 0:4.
The easiest way would be to say that the first half of this match just happened. There were no coherent actions, dangerous shots or opportunities to open the score on the pitch. The commentators of the clash did not bite their tongues when assessing the level of the spectacle.
“I haven't seen a match like this before,” said Roman Kołtoń, and Andrzej Janisz called the match “the laziest he's seen this year.” After the change of sides, the substitutes introduced some life into the German ranks – Kai Havertz. Barnabas Varga made a mistake in an excellent situation.
When it seemed that the match might end in a draw, in the 76th minute of the match, the Germans converted Florian Wirtz's cross. Nico Schlotterbeck collected the ball consciously and Felix Nmecha found the net. This goal could have determined the final triumph of the guests, but in the last minutes the Hungarians got to work. The referee dictated for them penalty kick for handballing the ball, and Dominik Szoboszlai turned out to be an effective enforcer.
Germany finishes the competition in first place in the group with 14 points. The Dutch took second place (9 points), the Hungarians third (5) and the Bosnians fourth (2).
Group 3 Division A:
- 1. Germany – 14 points, goals: 18:4
- 2. Netherlands – 9 points, goals: 13:7
- 3. Hungary – 6 points, goals: 4:11
- 4. Bosnia and Herzegovina – 2 points, goals: 4:17
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1-1 Netherlands (0-0)
Goals: Ermedin Demirović' 67 – Brian Brobbey' 24
Bosnia: Zlomislić (gk) – Dedić, Bicakcić (63' Bazdar), Barisić, Muharemović – Tahirović (86' Basić), Sunjić, Burnić – Gigović (63' Bajraktarević), Dzeko (k) (90+2' Djakovac), Demirović ( 86' Kulenovic)
Netherlands: Flekken (gk) – Frimpong, de Vrij (k), de Ligt, Hato – Wieffer, Zirkzee (77' Weghorst), Koopmeiners – Kluivert, Brobbey (70' Gravenberch), Lang (77' Gakpo)
Hungary 1-1 Germany (0-0)
Goals: Dominik Szoboszlai' 90+8k – Felix Nmecha' 76
Hungary: Dibusz (gk) – Fiola, Orban, Dardai – Nego (65' Gera), Nikitscher (65' Kata), Schafer, Nagy (82' Schon) – Szoboszlai, Salai (82' Csoboth) – Varga (89' Gruber)
Germany: Nubel (gk) – Kimmich (k) (46' Gosens), Koch, Schlotterbeck, Henrichs – Nmecha, Andrich – Sane (80' Kleindienst), Brandt (61' Wirtz), Fuhrich (61' Musiala) – Gnabry (61' Havertz)