Paris (AFP)
France and Portugal drew 0-0 at the Stade de France and England beat Belgium 2-1 at Wembley to take the lead in their group on Sunday on Matchday 3 of the Nations League.
Italy (group 1), for its part, could only bring back the point of the draw for Poland, after another scoreless match (0-0).
In Group 3 of League A, the positions therefore remain unchanged, Portugal and France occupying the first two places with 7 points each.
Croatia are 3rd (3 pts) after their first 2-1 victory Sunday in Zagreb against Sweden, whose counter remains stuck at zero.
In an almost empty Stade de France, the world champions and reigning European champions produced a beautiful spectacle which ultimately only missed the goals, despite the presence on the pitch of two of the best strikers in the world, the Parisian Kylian Mbappé and his idol Cristiano Ronaldo.
France and Portugal have so far had an almost similar course in this League of Nations, with each winning one in Sweden and another at home against Croatia.
At Wembley, England took some revenge for their two defeats against Belgium at the 2018 World Cup (in group and for 3rd place) by winning 2-1 after being down 1-0.
A success which allows the selection of Gareth Southgate to take the lead of group 2 with 7 points in 3 matches, against 6 to the Belgians, who were deprived of Eden Hazard, injured.
Belgium opened the scoring on a penalty converted by former Premier League striker Romelu Lukaku (0-1, 16th).
England equalized on a new penalty, conceded by Thomas Meunier for a foul on Henderson and succeeded by Marcus Rashford (1-1, 39th).
Mason Mount scored the English victory goal on a deflected shot by Belgian Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld who deceived goalkeeper Simon Mignolet (2-1, 64 ').
Denmark are third in this group, now with 4 points thanks to their 3-0 victory in Iceland, which brings up the rear with zero points.
In group 1, Italy retains first place despite its draw in Poland (0-0), with a head start over the Netherlands, also without offensive imagination in Bosnia-Herzegovina (0-0), and Poland.
Italy won 1-0 in the Netherlands after a first draw at home against Bosnia (1-1).
The Oranje, winners of Poland but beaten by Italy in the first two matches, and after a home defeat against Mexico in a friendly Thursday (1-0), will have at least had the merit of dominating their opponent in the evening ahead almost empty stands, but without materializing.
© 2020 AFP