September 26,2022

Croatia and Netherlands both booked their places in the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League this evening.

Both sides went into their final group games with top spot firmly in their hands, and neither slipped up as Croatia overcame Austria and Netherlands edged out Belgium.

Croatia needed a win to guarantee their place in the last four ahead of Denmark, and they got off to a perfect start when the talismanic Luka Modric broke the deadlock after only six minutes

Christoph Baumgartner restored parity within three minutes, though, and the 2018 World Cup runners-up looked under threat of surrendering top spot with Denmark beating France in the group’s other game.

However, a quickfire double quelled any doubts with around 20 minutes remaining, as first Marko Livaja and then former Liverpool man Dejan Lovren scored headers within three minutes of each other to hand Croatia the win.

It was Lovren’s old Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk who scored the only goal of the game for Netherlands as they overcame Belgium to book their place in the last four.

Louis van Gaal‘s men knew that only defeat by three goals or more would be enough for Belgium to leapfrog them in the standings, and that never looked like happening as Roberto Martinez‘s side failed to score in a match for the first time since the 2018 World Cup semi-finals, 50 matches ago.

Van Dijk’s 73rd-minute header from Cody Gakpo‘s corner was the difference on the night, ensuring Netherlands finish their Nations League campaign unbeaten and six points clear of Belgium, having only dropped two points from a possible 18

Poland‘s 1-0 victory over Wales in Group A4’s other game this evening means that Wales finish bottom of the group and suffer relegation to League B, while Poland finish third.

In Group A1’s other game, meanwhile, world champions France avoided relegation despite losing 2-0 to Denmark, courtesy of Austria’s loss to Croatia.

Didier Deschamps‘s side only finish one point clear of relegation, though, and eight adrift of group winners Croatia having only won one and lost three of their six games

Indeed, even before this winter’s World Cup Les Bleus have lost three competitive games this calendar year, already equalling their joint-worst ever tally in a calendar year.

Kasper Dolberg and Andreas Skov Olsen both scored within five first-half minutes of each other to hand Denmark another three points, seeing them end the campaign with four wins from six games