Deserved Nations League Finals crown for Croatia, ready to face opponents in finals
Deserved Nations League Finals crown for Croatia, ready to face opponents in finals: Croatia, the Netherlands reached the last-four of the Nations League finals with a 3-1 win against Austria; Croatia’s Luka Modric and Dejan Lovren scored two goals and were also awarded Player of the Match honors; Netherlands won 1-0 over Belgium to join them in the finals; France avoided relegation after losing 2-0 to Denmark.
Croatia and the Netherlands started with strong performances to progress to the World Cup final at the Nations League finals, while France’s poor form didn’t improve.
Croatia beat their opponent by 3-1, forcing them down to the second tier of Nations League. The Netherlands defeated their visiting European opponent 1-0 and finished level with Belgium with 16 points in Group A4.
Despite France’s 2-0 loss to Denmark, the defending European champions moved up in the table because of Austria’s defeat.
France, Denmark and Tunisia will play in Group A in the World Cup. The French and the Danes will meet again in Qatar on November 20th, while Australia will also be playing in Group B with Tunisia.
With this team in good shape, Luka Modric has a chance at the last international tournament. Croatia leads after six minutes in Vienna when Modric is left unmarked inside the penalty area and fires home.
With three minutes left, the Austrians equalized with a glancing header in the corner of the goal by midfielder Christoph Baumgartner. Minutes later, two goals from forward Marko Livaja and central defender Dejan Lovren sealed Croatia’s memorable victory, who are in Group H which includes Belgium, Canada and Morocco.
Denmark finished second in the World Cup after beating an injury-depleted France side 2-0 at home. With goals from striker Kasper Dolberg and midfielder Andreas Skov Olsen, Denmark made the most of France’s inexperience in defence, the team’s third choice goalkeeper Alphonse Areola failed to deal with a corner.
With newfound speed and precision, France attacked the goal with aplomb. However, complications ensued. Star striker Kylian Mbappe did not finish the opener and had two more chances smashed away by Kaspel Schmeichel in quick succession.
France finished third in Group H, winning just one of their six games and scoring only five goals – the fewest in their group. Belgium needed to win by three goals away from the Netherlands, however, and lost 1-0 with Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk heading in the only goal after 73 minutes.