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

There was little to play for in Group A3 before the final day. The Germans had already reached the top. The Dutch were safe in second place and Hungary were four points ahead of already relegated Bosnia.

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

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

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

In Budapest, Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann made the changes with his side confirming top spot last week with a 7-0 thrashing of Bosnia.

It was Felix Nmecha who broke the goalless deadlock when he poked home from inside the six-yard box with 14 minutes left in the game.

Germany looked set to wrap up their fifth win in six games until the seventh minute of extra time.

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

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

The Netherlands finished five points behind their historic rivals as they were held to a draw in Zenica.

Brian Brobbey headed in the opener for Ronald 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 Hamburgborn’s Bosnian striker Ermedin Demirovic adjusted his body magnificently to head a rebound past goalkeeper Mark Flekken.

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

Wales ‘really lucky’

Wales bounced back from an early Andri Gudjohnsen goal in Cardiff to move fourth behind Iceland and jump into first place in Group B4.

“It’s something we decided to do,” Wales’ Liam Cullen told Welsh broadcaster S4C.

“We knew we couldn’t control what was going on in the Turkiye game, but we really wanted to put our stamp on this game and win convincingly, so really glad we did.”

Swansea City striker Cullen scored a double to put the hosts in front at half-time, before Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson sealed the win inside the final half-hour.

Wales needed victory to have any chance of gaining automatic promotion to League A, but they also needed an unlikely Montenegro upset by Turkiye to guarantee top spot by a one-point margin.

The football gods smiled on the Dragons, as Nikola Krstovic’s hat-trick in Niksic sent Turkiye into the play-offs and allowed Montenegro to pick up their first points of the campaign after five consecutive defeats.

Two 2-1 victories turned Group B1 on its head after three points had separated the four teams going into the final round.

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

A Nedim Bajrami penalty gave Albania hope in the final quarter, but the Ukrainians held on to second place.

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

In League C, Sweden showcased its striking prowess with a 6-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan as it emphatically topped Group C1.

Swedish forward Viktor Gyokeres scored four goals to overtake Erling Haaland as top scorer in the Nations League.

Gyokeres started the evening with five goals in five games. His third goal of the night in the 58th minute – scored just seconds after the game restarted following another Swedish goal – took Sporting Lisbon to eight goals in six games in this edition of the Nations League, one more than Haaland .

Gyokeres – one of the most convincing players in world football this season – didn’t stop there, adding his fourth goal of the game soon after.

Haaland had been top scorer heading into the final round of fixtures after the Manchester City striker scored seven goals for Norway, including a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Kazakhstan on Sunday.

AFP