The collapse of the favorite: France for the first time in history lost to Croatia and resigned the championship in the League of Nations

Croatia's historic success

The failure of France can safely be called the main surprise of the current season of the League of Nations.

The draw placed the current trophy holder, as well as the world champion, in a fairly passable group with Denmark, Croatia and Austria.

It seemed that the wards of Didier Deschamps were obliged to calmly take first place.

But after four rounds, they lost even the theoretical chances of reaching the final four and settled on the last line.

After away draws with Croatia and Austria, the tricolor houses managed to lose to the checkers - 0:1.

The course of the confrontation was largely determined by a rather controversial penalty kick, appointed in the debut itself.

At the corner, Karim Benzema played carelessly against Ante Budimir and gave him the opportunity to fall to the lawn.

Judge Aurel Greenfield immediately pointed to the "point", and assistants at VAR supported his verdict.

The hosts' reserve goalkeeper Mick Menian, who replaced Hugo Lloris, was close to blocking Luka Modric's shot.

He guessed the direction of the ball and touched it, but failed to block the path into the net.

So the captain of the guests scored the 22nd goal for the national team.

In the future, the favorite, according to statistics, had an overwhelming advantage and, for example, fired 18 shots against four from the opponent.

But really dangerous moments at the gates of the Zlatko Dalic team rarely arose, and in difficult moments he was saved by Ivica Ivusic, who made six saves.

The final whistle marked Croatia's first ever victory over France.

In the previous nine meetings, the "checkers" suffered six defeats and three draws.

In particular, they managed to take revenge for the unsuccessful final of the 2018 World Cup.

Danish class win

But Denmark deserved the title of the main discovery.

After reaching the semi-finals of Euro 2020 and a powerful performance in the 2022 World Cup qualification, the Scarlet Guard proved that it is on the same level with the giants.

That's strong Austria wards Kasper Yulmann beat at home with a clear advantage - 2:0.

Moreover, the young striker of Wolfsburg Jonas Wind unexpectedly became the main character in their composition.

He hit the base for the first time in the tournament and decided the outcome of the confrontation.

In the middle of the first half, the striker easily hit an empty far corner after a pass from the front by Joakim Mehle, and shortly before the break, with an excellent cutting pass, he brought the goalkeeper Andreas Skov Olsen to a rendezvous.

To escape, the guests had enough time, but they did not create a single dangerous moment.

The Danes knocked one of the main competitors off their shoulders and are still two points ahead of Croatia.

In September, in the event of an away victory over an opponent, they guarantee themselves a ticket to the final four.

Curious salvation of Israel

Domestic fans follow the matches of the Quartet 2 of League B with particular interest, because it was here that Valery Karpin's wards were supposed to start.

However, the decision of UEFA deprived them of this opportunity.

But the three remaining teams got a great chance to compete for one ticket to the elite division.

On Monday, Israel took another step towards taking first place, scoring a crucial point in Iceland.

For two, the opponents scored four goals and missed a few more promising moments.

The hosts took the lead twice through the efforts of Jón Thorsteinsson and Thorir Johann Helgason, but failed to keep the score that suits them.

The guests also scored two extremely curious goals.

First, Daniel Gretarsson unsuccessfully put his foot under the blow of an opponent and cut the ball into his own net.

And then Dor Peretz seemed to hit the post.

But the referee, after watching the replay, ruled that the ball had crossed the line.

Incredible result of Kazakhstan

Let the Russian team not take part in the current season of the League of Nations, the country is represented in the tournament by one person - coach Magomed Adiev.

The ex-mentor of Anji headed the national team of Kazakhstan in April and made a splash with it.

Few could have imagined that, following the results of four rounds, she would not only practically guarantee herself a promotion in the class, but also beat the main favorite, Slovakia, twice.

Moreover, after the victory in Trnava, Stefan Tarkovich, who took the team to Euro 2020, was dismissed.

He was replaced by the duet of Samuel Slovak and Marek Mintal, under whose leadership the Slovaks turned out to be stronger than Azerbaijan.

In the next round, it was vital for them to take revenge from the leader in Nur-Sultan in order to rise to the first place.

However, this was not possible.

The hosts, with the support of the Astana Arena filled almost to capacity, turned out to be stronger again - 2:1.

Guests possessed the ball 67% of the time and delivered 17 shots on goal, but only once upset Igor Shatsky, who made four saves.

The hosts, in a signature manner, gave the ball to the opponent and, even before the break, had two smashing counterattacks on the right flank.

The first pitch was closed by Yan Vorogovsky, and the second by 22-year-old Elkhan Astanov, for whom this goal is his debut in the national team.

The absence of the injured Milan Shkrinjar's opponent in the center of defense had an effect.

At the beginning of the second half, Matus Bero reduced the gap to a minimum, but the favorite was not enough for more.

And in the end, Ondrej Duda was sent off the field, who received two yellow cards in a couple of minutes.

For Kazakhstan, the third victory in the framework of the LN allowed to increase the gap from the nearest pursuer to four points.

Now, success in the home game against Belarus in September guarantees Adiev's team promotion to League B.

The failed performance of Belarus

But the affairs of another team from the post-Soviet space, which got into this quartet, are much worse.

If in the previous draw of the LN Belarus fought to the last for promotion in the class, then this time after four rounds it lost even theoretical chances.

Moreover, the team of Georgy Kondratiev, with one point in the asset, risks returning to the weakest division, where he started playing in 2018.

He played another nondescript match in Baku.

Opponents in general had a close meeting with an equal number of chances, but the guests did not convert their own.

And in the end, the defenders of the team played extremely unsuccessfully twice in their own half and allowed the substitute Mahir Emreli and the European champion among youths in Russia Ramil Sheydayev to score.

So the wards of Gianni De Biazi interrupted the 15-match losing streak in official competitions.

Belarusians, on the contrary, extended theirs to 11.

The last time they celebrated success was in the 2022 World Cup qualification, when the Estonians were stronger at home.

Judging by media reports, another misfire could be fatal for Kondratiev and his staff.

In the near future, they are very likely to leave their posts.