PARIS: Germany rounded off their Nations League group stage campaign with a 1-1 draw in Hungary after a Dominik Szoboszlai penalty in the 99th minute rescued a point for the hosts, while Netherlands were held to the same scoreline by Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There was little to play for in Group A3 going into the final day. The Germans had already wrapped up top spot. The Dutch were secure in second and Hungary sat four points ahead of the already-relegated Bosnia.

The Nations League quarter-final lineup was already decided before Tuesday’s games kicked off, with Portugal, France, Germany and Spain as group winners and Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark qualifying as runners-up. The draw is Friday at UEFA headquarters in Switzerland and the quarter-finals will be played in March.

“With a win, we would’ve gone into the break with a nicer feeling but we can still be very satisfied about what we achieved in 2024 and can kick things off again in March,” said German midfielder Robert Andrich.

In Group B4, a 4-1 victory for Wales against Iceland ensured automatic promotion to the top division at the expense of Turkey, who went down 3-1 in Montenegro.

Czech Republic booked top spot in Group B1 with a 2-1 win over Georgia. Ukraine leapfrogged the Georgians into second place by downing Albania.

In Budapest, Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann rang the changes with his team having confirmed top spot last week with a 7-0 thumping of Bosnia.

Felix Nmecha broke a goalless stalemate when he prodded home from inside the six-yard box with 14 minutes remaining.

Germany seemed set to close out their fifth win in six outings until the seventh minute of injury time.

VAR decided that Robin Koch had committed a handball in the box and Hungarian captain Szoboszlai stepped up two minutes later to dink home from 12 yards.

That preserved Hungary’s unbeaten run at home, which now stretches to 13 games over more than two years since June 2022 and a loss to Italy in the previous edition of the Nations League.

“It’s been a real rollercoaster of a year, but I believe that with this match we can go into 2025 in good spirits,” said Szoboszlai.

Nagelsmann said he would “never have given” the penalty in comments to broadcaster ZDF and questioned whether watching “48 slo-mos” of an incident actually led to better calls.

Nagelsmann argued that Hungary’s joy after leveling the score reflected Germany’s improved stature as a team after a strong 2024.

“If you see today how Hungary is celebrating this 1-1, that’s a little distinction for our team too,” he said.

For the Netherlands, a 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina ends a year filled with success, disappointment and controversy.

Ronald Koeman’s team reached the semi-finals of a major tournament for the first time in 14 years and were eyeing a first European Championship final since 1988 — but then came Ollie Watkins’ stoppage-time goal to put England through instead.

In Zenica on Tuesday, Brian Brobbey headed in the opener for Koeman’s side midway through the first period but despite dominating the rest of the half the Dutch were unable to double their lead.

The Oranje were made to pay in the 67th minute when Hamburg-born Bosnian attacker Ermedin Demirovic adjusted his body magnificently to nod a rebound over goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

“I’m not satisfied with a point. I think we had to win,” said Koeman.

Wales bounced back from an early Andri Gudjohnsen goal in Cardiff to put four past Iceland and jump to first place in their group.

“It’s something we set out to do,” Wales’ Liam Cullen told Sgorio. “We knew we couldn’t control what was going on in the Turkey game, but we really wanted to put our stamp on this game and win convincingly, so really happy that we’ve done that.”

Cullen scored a double to put the hosts in front by half-time, before Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson put the seal on the match inside the final half-hour.

Wales needed victory to have any chance of obtaining automatic promotion to League A, but they needed Montenegro’s upset of Turkey to claim that spot with a one-point buffer.

Nikola Krstovic’s hat-trick in Niksic condemned Turkey to the play-off spot as Montenegro picked up their first points of the campaign after five consecutive defeats.

Two 2-1 wins flipped Group B1 on its head after three points had separated the four teams going into the final matchday.

Ukraine were fourth before their trip to Tirana but two goals in the first 10 minutes from Oleksandr Zinchenko and Roman Yaremchuk gave them the perfect start.

Zinchenko celebrated his opener by holding up a shirt printed “1000”, marking one thousand days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A Nedim Bajrami penalty gave Albania hope in the last quarter of an hour but the Ukrainians held on to claim second spot.

The Czechs had sat top of the group on eight points and consolidated top spot when first-half strikes by Pavel Sulc and Adam Hlozek were enough to give them a 2-1 home win over Georgia.

In League C, Sweden showcased their striking prowess with a 6-0 thumping of Azerbaijan as they emphatically topped their group.

Much-heralded 26-year-old striker Viktor Gyokeres netted four goals in the rout, with Dejan Kulusevski grabbing a brace.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2024