England and Croatia wins with the same score

In one of the central matches of the game day of the League of Nations, England defeated Belgium at home (2: 1) and with seven points came out on top in Group 2 of League A. 

The British conceded from the penalty spot in the 16th minute.

However, shortly before the break, the hosts themselves earned a penalty spot, and Marcus Rashford converted it and scored in the fourth match for the national team in a row.

After an hour of play, Mason Mount rebounded and brought victory to the Three Lions.

This success has once again demonstrated that England is currently virtually invincible at home.

Over the last 21 home games, the team has 20 wins.

In general, Southgate's charges have not known defeats for exactly a year.

On October 11, 2019, they lost to the Czech Republic in the qualifying for Euro 2020.

At the same time, the Belgians lost their first meeting in almost two years - since November 2018.  

The match between Croatia and Sweden ended with a similar score.

"Drafts" houses snatched the victory.

Moreover, unlike Belgium and England, these teams did not have points after two rounds and settled at the bottom of group 3. 

It was this confrontation that could be especially interesting for Russian fans, because seven players from the RPL took part in it at once.

Croatia includes Dejan Lovren (Zenit), Filip Uremovic (Rubin) and Nikola Vlašić (CSKA).

Sweden includes Kristoffer Olsson, Markus Berg, Victor Klasson (all Krasnodar).

Jordan Larsson ("Spartak") was also announced for the game, but he never entered the field.

Vlašić and Berg scored goals.

Moreover, for the 34-year-old Scandinavian, this goal became the 22nd in the national team.

With this indicator, the footballer ranks fifth in the list of the top scorers of the Swedish national team in history. 

Three zero draws in the elite league 

And the most status match of the game day, in which the reigning world champion France and Portugal met, who won the first draw of the League of Nations, ended without goals scored.

The teams paid more attention to neutralizing each other's strengths and never managed to excel.

At the same time, absolute equality was recorded in key indicators: possession of the ball (50% to 50%), shots on goal (10 to 10), shots on target (3 to 3).

The teams continue to share the top spot in Group 3 of League A.

Goalkeepers - Hugo Lloris and Rui Patricio can add this match to their assets.

At the same time, Lloris played the 117th match for the national team and came in third in terms of the number of meetings in the French national team.

Only Lilian Thuram (142) and Thierry Henry (123) are ahead of him. 

Both meetings in Group 1 ended in a goalless draw. Italy and the Netherlands, which were in the status of favorites, could not beat Poland with Bosnia and Herzegovina on the road, respectively, although the rivals struck only three shots on target for two.

In the case of the Bosnians, who were defeated in the semi-finals of Euro 2020 qualifying last week, the statistics turned out to be deceiving, as the Balkans played almost on equal terms with the venerable opponent.

“Orange” extended the streak without wins to three matches and did not score a single goal in these meetings.

Earlier, Franck de Boer's wards lost with a minimum score to Italy in the League of Nations and Mexico - in a friendly game.

In turn, "Scuadra Azzurra" retained the leadership in the group, and also extended the unbeaten run in official meetings to 15 (12 wins and three draws).

There are only two matches left before the national record, set in 1999. 

Holland's six goals in three Nations League games 

Erling Holland, 20, has long established himself as the world's most talented young striker.

At the club level, the striker began to score a lot on the move.

However, in the national team it took him some time to adapt.

In particular, on Thursday he failed to hit Serbia's gates in the semifinals of Euro 2020 qualifying, and Norway, having suffered a defeat in extra time (1: 2), lost the chances of reaching the final stage.

However, in the new season of the League of Nations, Holland really shines.

In September, he scored one goal for Austria and two for Northern Ireland, and on Sunday scored three goals against Romania (4: 0).

Moreover, the striker scored two goals after the passes of Martin Edegor, for which he thanked him on Twitter.

En servitør, og en hat trick-helt⚽️⚽️⚽️🤩 # sterkeresammenpic.twitter.com / PauBMk65Xz

- Fotballandslaget (@nff_landslag) October 11, 2020

Thus, it took Erling only six games with the national team to complete the hat-trick.

In total, in six meetings of the national team, he has six goals.

If fans are beginning to get used to Holland's high performance, then 37-year-old Goran Pandev's aim at the goal is surprising.

On Sunday, the ex-forward of Inter, Lazio and Napoli hit the Estonian goal and helped North Macedonia achieve an effective draw on the road (3: 3).

Despite his age, the striker remains the main star of Macedonian football.

In total, he has 108 matches and 34 goals for the national team.

At the same time, he made his debut in the national team almost 20 years ago - in June 2001.   

Defeats of Euro 2020 qualifying finalists

But the Serbs and Icelanders, perhaps, did not have enough emotions after victories in the semifinals of the Euro 2020 qualification.

The Balkan rival of the Russian national team in the group at home with a minimum score lost to Hungary and practically lost the chances of promotion.

Lubisa Tumbakovic's charges have only one point. 

Things are even worse for Iceland in the elite league.

On Sunday, the Vikings lost to Denmark at home - 0: 3.

Moreover, the decisive goal of the guests turned out to be rather curious.

After a corner, the goalkeeper knocked the ball straight into Runar Sigurjounsson, from whom he jumped into the goal.

But the strangest ball of the game of the day was missed by the goalkeeper of the Israeli national team Ophir Marciano in the match with the Czech Republic.

At the very beginning of the meeting, Marciano was unable to process the transfer back in the performance of Yol defender Abu Hannah, and the projectile ended up in the net.

At the same time, the goalkeeper, who was trying to catch up with the ball, failed to take it out of the line.

So Israel was defeated (1: 2) and, like Serbia and Iceland, does not know victories in the current draw of the League of Nations. 

Scoring draws in post-Soviet derbies

Finally, as part of the game day, two matches took place at once, in which the teams representing the countries of the post-Soviet space met.

The Caucasus derby Armenia - Georgia took place in Poland.

The meeting was postponed to Tychy due to the tense situation in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

The game ended in a draw - 2: 2, and as part of the Armenian team, the debut goal was scored by the midfielder of “Rostov” Khoren Bayramyan, who started playing for the Armenian national team only this year. 

The Georgians responded to this with two goals, one of which was chalked up by ex-Krasnodar midfielder Tornike Okriashvili.

Armenia managed to get away from the defeat in the 87th minute.

The main star of the team Henrikh Mkhitaryan scored the jubilee, 30th goal for the national team from the penalty spot.

The match between Lithuania and Belarus ended with a similar score, and the meeting developed according to a similar scenario.

To begin with, the Balts took the lead in the opening of the game. 

Everything was changed by the replacement of Lokomotiv striker Vitaly Lisakovich at the beginning of the second half.

As soon as he appeared on the field, he earned and converted a penalty, and then executed an effective pass to Alexander Sachivko. 

However, the Belarusians did not keep the winning score.

15 minutes before the end of regular time, Karolis Laukzhemis set the final score on the scoreboard.

Now all four teams (Kazakhstan, Albania, Belarus and Lithuania), playing in Group 4 of League C, have four points each.