Prague – In the final 6th round of the Nations League, thanks to Erling Haaland’s hat trick, the Norwegian footballers outclassed Kazakhstan 5:0 at home, dominated group B3 and will play in the elite level of the competition for the first time. Group B2 winner England also secured promotion, the favorite also beat Ireland 5:0 on their home field.
Haaland opened the scoring from the spot in the 23rd minute and headed home a quarter of an hour later. His colleague from the attack Sörloth increased even to the half. The Manchester City gunner completed his fourth hat-trick for the national team in the 71st minute with a shot from outside the box and soon set up the final result for Nusa.
Haaland is the competition’s top scorer with seven goals. The Norwegians overtook Austria in the table, which lost first place with a 1:1 home draw with Slovenia. Gnezda Čerin scored a point for the guests with an equalizing goal in the 81st minute.
Second place ensured the Austrians at least a playoff against one of the “third” teams from the elite level groups. The third-placed Slovenians will defend their position in Group B in a play-off against a team from a lower level. As the last team in the group, Kazakhstan was relegated directly.
Before the final round, England had the same points as Greece, but due to the better balance between them, any win was enough for them. Albion’s selection decided the island derby against Ireland only in the penalty shootout after the change of sides. In the 51st minute, Scales was sent off after a second yellow card, and after his foul on Bellingham, a penalty was also kicked, which captain Kane easily converted.
The best English national team scorer (69 goals) was followed by four players who made their mark in the national team for the first time. Gordon scored in the 56th minute and a moment later Gallagher rounded off a crushing five-minute strike. In the end, Bowen and debutant defender Harwood-Bellis scored.
Greece remained in second place despite a 2-0 win in Finland. The northerners, for whom the Spartan midfielder Kairinen played the entire game again, did not get a single point in the group.
France returned Italy’s 1-3 home defeat and, with the score tied and the head-to-head balanced, eventually leapfrogged their opponents in the table thanks to a better score. Already at the end of the second minute, Rabiot headed in and Digne made it 2-0 for the visitors in the 33rd minute, whose free kick bounced off the crossbar and into the net of goalkeeper Vicario. Cambiaso was soon reduced, but in the 65th minute he returned France to a two-goal lead again after a standard situation by Rabiot. The Marseille midfielder scored two goals in one match for the national team for the first time in his career.
Belgium retained third place in Group A2, despite losing 0:1 to Israel today. The duel on neutral ground in Budapest was decided by Shua in the 86th minute. Both teams won four points each, but the “Red Devils” have a better mutual balance thanks to a 3:1 win in the opening match.
Nations League – Round 6:
Group A2:
Milan: Italy – France 1:3 (1:2)
Goals: 35. Cambiaso – 2. and 65. Rabiot, 33. own Vicario.
Budapest: Israel – Belgium 1:0 (0:0)
Branka: 86. Shua.
Final table:
| 1. | Francie | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12:6 | 13 |
| 2. | Italy | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13:8 | 13 |
| 3. | Belgium | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6:9 | 4 |
| 4. | Israel | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5:13 | 4 |
Group B2:
London: England – Ireland 5:0 (0:0)
Goals: 53. Kane z pen., 56. Gordon, 58. Gallagher, 76. Bowen, 79. Harwood-Bellis. CK: 51. Scales (Ireland).
Helsinki: Finland – Greece 0:2 (0:0)
Goals: 52. Bakasetas, 56. Tzolis.
Final table:
| 1. | England | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 16:3 | 15 |
| 2. | Greece | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11:4 | 15 |
| 3. | Ireland | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3:12 | 6 |
| 4. | Finland | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2:13 | 0 |
Group B3:
Oslo: Norway – Kazakhstan 5:0 (3:0)
Goals: 23rd, 37th and 71st Haaland, 42nd Sörloth, 76th Nusa.
Vienna: Austria – Slovenia 1:1 (1:0)
Goals: 27. Schmid – 87. Gnezda-Čerin.
Final table:
| 1. | Norway | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15:7 | 13 |
| 2. | Austria | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 14:5 | 11 |
| 3. | Slovenia | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7:9 | 8 |
| 4. | Kazakhstan | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0:15 | 1 |
Group C4:
Riga: Latvia – Armenia 1:2 (0:0)
Goals: 71. Uldrikis – 48. Spercjan, 75. Miranjan.
Skopje: North Macedonia – Faroe Islands 1:0 (0:0)
Branka: 62. Miovski.
Final table:
| 1. | North Macedonia | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 10:1 | 16 |
| 2. | Armenia | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8:9 | 7 |
| 3. | Faroe Islands | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5:6 | 6 |
| 4. | Latvia | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4:11 | 4 |
Sport football League of Nations 6th round PHOTO
Source: www.ceskenoviny.cz
