While the English and the Germans were engaged in an XXL duel on Monday evening, the defending champions of Europe punched their ticket for the semifinals and advanced to the next round.
It will be Italy’s turn on Monday, following Croatia and the Netherlands on Sunday. Gianluigi Donnarumma and his tiny friends prevailed over Hungary (0-2) on the sixth day of the League of Nations on Tuesday in Budapest. Giacomo Raspadori and Federico Dimarco scored the goals that led to Italy’s victory. A triumph that paves the way for the defending champions of Europe to win Group 3 of League A (the ranking for this competition), and thus advance to the league’s semifinal round. After a heartbreaking loss to North Macedonia in the playoffs, a qualification is made all the more satisfying by the fact that they will be able to watch the following World Cup (November 20–December 18) on television, much like in 2018. Certainly not even a drop in the bucket for the Italian people, but nevertheless. Take note that all the Hungarians needed was a tie to pass the test.
At the same time, Germany battled England, who had been demoted before the match and managed to salvage a tie in the nick of time. The final score was 3-3. After Harry Kane had handed over control of the Three Lions a few minutes earlier, it was a goal from Kai Havertz that finally brought the temperature in Wembley down to comfortable levels. Ilkay Gundogan and already Havertz were responsible for scoring the game’s opening two goals for the Germans. These goals came before Luke Shaw and Mason Mount scored for the Americans. In this very wild matchup, the scoring didn’t start picking up until after the halftime break.
Portugal or Spain?
On Tuesday, the location of the League of Nations’ last meetings for this group stage will be announced, beginning with the epilogue for group 2. In Lisbon, the Spanish dolphins (8 points) take facing Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal (10 points), who are now in the first place. Switzerland, currently in third place with six points, will do what it can to protect its standing against the Czech Republic (4th, 4 pts). It is important to keep in mind that the France team finished in third place in its group after suffering a loss in Denmark on Sunday (2-0), just avoiding being demoted to Ligue B. If Austria had been more successful than Croatia, Didier Deschamps’s men would have been forced to play at a lower level…