MX23RW : Saturday, November 16 04:23:38| >> :120:38747:38747:

UEFA Nations League roundup: Belgium end England's hopes of making the semi-finals

Wales face a group decider against Finland on Wednesday.

England's slim hopes of returning to the UEFA Nations League finals came to an end as they were beaten 2-0 by Belgium in Group A2.

First-half strikes from Youri Tielemans and Dries Mertens proved enough to sink Gareth Southgate's side, who were without the likes of Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire.

Tielemans grabbed the opener after 10 minutes and, after Harry Kane – making his 50th England appearance – saw a chance cleared off the line, the world's top-ranked team doubled their lead through a brilliant Mertens free-kick.

Belgium v England – UEFA Nations League – League A – Group 2 – King Power Stadion At Den Dreefts
Harry Kane endured a frustrating night in Belgium (DIRK WAEM via Belga)

Scotland missed a chance to clinch top spot in Group B2 as they were brought back down to earth with a bump in Slovakia.

Just days after their famous penalty shoot-out win in Serbia to qualify for the Euro 2020 finals, the Scots were sunk by a deflected long-range effort from Jan Gregus in the first half.

Oli McBurnie and Leigh Griffiths were both denied after the break, but the Scots can still win the group if they beat Israel on Wednesday.

Slovakia v Scotland – UEFA Nations League – League B – Group 2 – City Arena
Scotland were brought back down to earth in Slovakia (Martin Baumann/TASR)

Wales stayed top of Group B4 with a hard-fought 1-0 win over the Republic of Ireland at the Cardiff City Stadium.

David Brooks headed the only goal of the game after 66 minutes, maintaining a one-point lead over Finland, who they face in their final group fixture in Cardiff on Wednesday.

The Republic, who were reduced to 10 men in stoppage time after Jeff Hendrick was red-carded, face a relegation decider against Bulgaria in Dublin.

Wales v Republic of Ireland – UEFA Nations League – League B – Group 4 – Cardiff City Stadium
David Brooks headed Wales to a win over the Republic of Ireland (Nick Potts/PA)

There was more frustration for Northern Ireland as two late goals consigned them to a 2-1 defeat in Austria and likely relegation.

Josh Magennis gave the visitors the lead as they rebounded well from the disappointment of missing out on Euro 2020 qualification three days ago.

But late goals from Louis Schaub and Adrian Grbic turned the tie around, with Northern Ireland's fate set to be sealed if, as expected, Romania are awarded three points from their postponed game against Norway.

Austria v Northern Ireland – UEFA Nations League – League B – Group 1 – Ernst Happel Stadion
Northern Ireland fell to a late defeat in Austria (Florian Schrotter/PA)

Two Christian Eriksen penalties earned Denmark a narrow 2-1 win over Iceland and gives them hope of overhauling the Belgians when Group A2's top two meet on Wednesday.

The Danes' hopes appeared to have been extinguished when Vidar Kjartansson equalised for the visitors in the 85th minute, but Eriksen made the most of a second spot-kick opportunity deep in injury time.

Georginio Wijnaldum scored twice as Holland got their campaign back on track with a 3-1 win over Bosnia, which relegates the visitors from Group A1.

Netherlands Bosnia and Herzegovina Nations League Soccer
Georginio Wijnaldum scored twice in Italy's win over Bosnia (John Thys/AP)

Wijnaldum scored both his goals in the opening 14 minutes, before Memphis Depay added a third, with Smail Prevljak scoring a late consolation for Bosnia.

Italy stay top of the group after a 2-0 win over Poland, and will seal victory in the group if they win in Bosnia on Wednesday.

An early Jorginho penalty and a second-half strike from Domenico Berardi clinched victory for the Italians, while Poland had Jacek Goralski sent off late on.

ID:422450: cacheID:422450:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:12241:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Wales' Gareth Bale and Republic of Ireland's Matt Doherty embrace after the UEFA Nations League clash on November 15, 2020
Read Next:
A look at Gareth Bale's performance for Wales against the Republic of Ireland
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool119112161528
2Manchester CityMan City117222213923
3Chelsea115422113819
4Arsenal115421812619
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest115421510519
6Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton115421915419
7Fulham115331613318
8Newcastle UnitedNewcastle115331311218
9Aston Villa115331717018
10Tottenham HotspurSpurs1151523131016
11Brentford115152222016
12Bournemouth114341515015
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd114341212015
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham113351319-612
15Leicester CityLeicester112451421-710
16Everton112451017-710
17Ipswich TownIpswich111551222-108
18Crystal Palace11146815-77
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves111371627-116
20Southampton11119721-144


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!