Nations League roundup: Kane fires England to finals

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England fought back to qualify for the Finals of the UEFA Nations League as Jesse Lingard and Harry Kane scored late goals in a pulsating 2-1 victory over Croatia, who were relegated from Group A4 after defeat at Wembley on Sunday.

England were themselves facing the drop when Croatia's Andrej Kramaric scored after 57 minutes but substitute Lingard and Kane netted in the 77th and 85th minutes at a vociferous Wembley to turn the group on its head.

Gareth Southgate's side, who were knocked out in the semi-finals of the World Cup by Croatia in July, had dominated for large periods but fell behind when Kramaric twisted and turned before firing in via a deflection off Eric Dier.

Yet Lingard poked home and Kane converted Ben Chilwell's free kick to ensure England finished top of a group where all three teams – including Spain who started the day top but finished second – could have qualified.

England, who progress to the finals in Portugal in June, finished with seven points, one ahead of Spain and three clear of Croatia, who were relegated to the second tier.

“Today was another big occasion with lots of pressure,” Southgate told reporters.

“But I thought we coped with it very well and in the first half we played so well. We had good chances and should have been ahead in the game. But then we had to show another side: our resilience and character.”

A dejected Luka Modric during the Nations League A group four match between England and Croatia at Wembley Stadium, November 18. /VCG Photo

Belgium shocked

Elsewhere, Haris Seferovic scored a hat-trick as Switzerland recovered from conceding two early goals to beat World Cup semi-finalists Belgium 5-2 and qualify for the Finals of the Nations League in remarkable fashion.

Belgium, who suffered only their second competitive defeat since Euro 2016, threatened to overwhelm Switzerland when Thorgan Hazard scored twice in the first 17 minutes, the first from an awful mistake by Nico Elvedi in the second minute.

But the Swiss hit back to lead 3-2 at halftime with a penalty from Ricardo Rodriguez and a brace from Seferovic before Elvedi atoned for his mistake by heading them further in front in the 62nd minute and then Seferovic added a fifth.

Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri (C) and Belgium's Axel Witsel (R) vie for the ball during their Nations League clash at the Swissporarena stadium in Lucerne, November 18. /VCG Photo

The two sides finished level at the top of Group Two in League A – the top tier – with nine points and the Swiss qualified on having the better head-to-head record after Belgium's 2-1 win in Brussels.

“I'm very proud of these young players,” said Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic. “After the second goal, we had to stay calm and not concede a third goal and try to get slowly back into the game.”

(Source: Reuters)

Source(s): Reuters