Poland led in Belgium, but then clearly lost the Nations League game. The Netherlands won in Wales.
Belgium celebrated on Wednesday (08.06.2022), five days after the disgrace of a 1: 4 defeat against the Netherlands in a redeeming 6: 1 (0: 0) against Poland. Robert Lewandowski, who has been trying to force his departure from Bayern Munich for weeks, was in good shape in the national jersey. In Brussels he scored against a superior Belgian (28′), Borussia Dortmund’s Axel Witsel (42′), who will leave the club at the end of June, but quickly equalized.
In the second half, Kevin de Bruyne (59′), Leandro Trossard (73’/80′), Leander Dendoncker (83′) and Lois Openda (90’+3′) turned the game around. Thorgan Hazard, Thomas Meunier (both Dortmund) and Dedryck Boyata (Hertha BSC) were not in the Belgians’ starting XI.
Weghorst scores at the last minute
The Netherlands, with SC Freiburg’s Mark Flekken in goal, celebrated a 2-1 working win in Wales. Teun Koopmeiners (50th) scored first for Elftal. Rhys Norrington-Davies (90+2) equalized in added time, but former Wolfsburg player Wout Weghorst (90+4) scored the winning goal.
Ukraine starts with victory
Ukraine showed morale three days after the bitter end in World Cup qualification and started the Nations League with a win. The selection of the war-torn country won 1-0 (0-0) in Ireland on Wednesday evening, Wiktor Zygankow (47th) scored decisively. The audience in Dublin showed their solidarity with Ukraine in many ways.
Scotland also beat Armenia 2-0 (2-0) in Group 1 of the B-League. Anthony Ralston (28th) and Scott McKenna (40th) scored the goals. Scotland, Ukraine and Armenia now have three points each. Ukraine lost the play-off final in Wales on Sunday, missing out on Europe’s final ticket to the World Cup in Qatar.