Germany finished off their Group Stage at Nations League in a 1-1 draw against Hungary where Dominik Szoboszlai scored from the spot kick in stoppage time while the Netherlands had the same score against Bosnia and Hercegovina. As the group A3 final day was concerned, there was not much on the line as Germany had qualified top, the Dutch were safely in second and Hungary was four points clear of relegated Bosnia.
According to German midfielder Robert Andrich “With a win we would have gone down the break with a better feeling. However, all is not lost as we performed well in the 2024 and we should have the ball rolling from March.” +
Promotion to the highest tier was confirmed on the strength of a 4-1 victory by Wales over Iceland, which also saw Wales defeat Turkey 3-1 in Montenegro.
Czech Republic topped group B1 with a 2-1 win against Georgia, while Ukraine played second to the Georgians after beating Albania.
In Budapest, Julian Nagelsmann, the German coach, made a couple of alterations in his team after having secured top position last week with a resounding 7-0 victory over Bosnia. It was fifteen minutes before the conclusion of the match when Felix Nmecha scored from inside the six-yard box to break the deadlock. This appeared to be Germany’s fifth win in six matches until Robin Koch was adjudged to have handled the ball in the box at the seventh minute of the game’s injury time. The penalty taken by Hungarian skipper Szoboszlai was successful.
“It’s been a real rollercoaster of a year, but I believe that with this match we can go into 2025 in good spirits,” said Szoboszlai.
The Netherlands finished five points adrift of their eternal foes as they could only manage a draw in Zenica. Ronald Koeman’s side featured Brian Brobbey, who scored first for the Dutch, but the Netherlands team were unable to increase their lead after controlling the rest of the first half. In the 67th minute, Bosnian striker Ermedin Demirovic found the equalizer by nudging a rebound above goalkeeper Mark Flekken.
“I’m not satisfied with this point. I think we had to win,” said Koeman.
Wales moved to the top of their group after scoring four goals past Iceland after conceding one to Andri Gudjohnsen in Cardiff.
“It was one of the targets we set ourselves,” recalls Wales’ Liam Cullen in an interview with Sgorio. “We knew there was nothing we could do about the result of the Turkey match but we were determined to make our presence felt and to win the match, so it is nice to know that’s what we have done.”
That can be forgiven because it was Cullen’s double strike which gave Wales the advantage at the break, later in the last half hour periods, goals from Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson rounded off the victory. For automatic promotion to League A, the two results were necessary, a win for Wales and a stunning victory from Montenegro over Turkey. A hat trick from Nikola Krstovic helped Norway earn their first points of the campaign in Niksic, relegating Turkey to the playoffs.
In Group B1, two dramatic reversals during the last round of matches changed the standing of the teams. Before their trip to Tirana, Ukraine was ranked 4th, but had started the match well and scored two quick goals through Oleksandr Zinchenko and Roman Yaremchuk within the first ten minutes of play. After scoring his first, Zinchenko raised a shirt with the number 1000 on it, the number of days since Russia’s troops invaded Ukraine. A Nedim Bajrami penalty gave Albania hope, but it was not to be, since Ukraine always looked set to finish in second place.
The Czechs showed more determination by finishing with two first half goals, courtesy of Pavel Sulc and Adam Hlozek, as they beat Georgia 2-1 at their own backyard.
In League C, Sweden’s categorized themselves in the ‘striker’s club’ by defeating Azerbaijan 6-0, thus ensuring themselves top position in their group. Viktor Gyokeres struck four times, with Dejan Kulusevski scoring twice.
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