Connect with us

Sports

Klopp yet to get Germany win, Portugal beat Haaland’s Norway, others in UEFA Nations League

Published

on

Jurgen Klopp is still waiting for his first win as Germany head coach after his side suffered a 1-0 defeat to Greece in the UEFA Nations League on Sunday.

Dimitris Kourbelis scored the decisive goal in Augsburg as Greece secured their first-ever victory over Germany in their 11th meeting.

The defeat means Germany remain without a win under Klopp after two matches in the 2026/27 Nations League.

Elsewhere, Portugal maintained their perfect start to the competition with a 2-1 victory over Norway in Oslo.

 

Portugal’s forward #11 Joao Felix celebrates with teammate defender #19 Nuno Mendes after scoring his team’s first goal during the UEFA Nations League league phase group A4 football match between Portugal and Wales at Jose Alvalade stadium in Lisbon on September 24, 2026.

Joao Felix put Portugal ahead in the 17th minute before Erling Haaland equalised shortly after half-time.

However, Goncalo Ramos restored Portugal’s lead after capitalising on a misplaced pass from Norway goalkeeper Orjan Nyland, with the visitors holding on for all three points.

Diogo Costa had earlier denied Haaland twice before the break, while Rafael Leao later struck the crossbar for Portugal.

All these were detailed in a late Sunday night release on the UEFA Nations League website.

The other results on Matchday 2 were:

League A

– Serbia 1-2 Netherlands
– Germany 0-1 Greece
– Denmark 2-0 Wales
– Norway 1-2 Portugal

Norway’s forward #09 Erling Braut Haaland celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the 2026 World Cup round of 32 football match between Ivory Coast and Norway at the Dallas Stadium in Arlington on June 30, 2026. (Photo by Paul ELLIS / AFP)

League B

– Austria 3-1 Kosovo
– Israel 0-3 Republic of Ireland

League D

– Gibraltar 0-0 Andorra
– Lithuania 1-1 Azerbaijan

In Belgrade, Mexx Meerdink scored twice as the Netherlands defeated Serbia 2-1.

Meerdink opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Luka Jovic equalised for Serbia, but the Netherlands forward completed his brace with a low finish to secure victory.

Denmark also claimed their first points by beating Wales 2-0 at Parken.

See also  Omoba Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin, M.D.: Nigeria’s Pioneer Olympic Finalist and Medical Luminary

Ben Davies turned Mikkel Damsgaard’s cross into his own net shortly after half-time before Gustav Isaksen doubled the lead via the crossbar.

Austria remained perfect at the top of Group B3 after beating Kosovo 3-1, with Carney Chukwuemeka coming off the bench to complete the victory.

The Republic of Ireland bounced back from their opening defeat to Kosovo by beating Israel 3-0, with Troy Parrott, Adam Idah and Jack Moylan all scoring in the first half.

In League D, Gibraltar and Andorra played out a goalless draw, while Lithuania and Azerbaijan shared the points in a 1-1 draw.

Armandas Kucys gave Lithuania an early lead from the penalty spot before Mahir Emreli equalised five minutes later.

Germany began their campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands, while Greece came from behind to beat Serbia 2-1. Portugal opened with a 1-0 victory over Wales, while Norway defeated Denmark 3-2, with Erling Haaland scoring twice.

Matchday 2 fixtures

All times CET; 20:45 kick-off unless stated.

Monday 28 September

B2 Georgia vs Ukraine (18:00)
C2 Armenia vs Montenegro (18:00)
C2 Latvia vs Cyprus (18:00)
A1 Belgium vs France
A1 Türkiye vs Italy
B2 Northern Ireland vs Hungary
B4 Romania vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
B4 Sweden vs Poland

Tuesday 29 September

C1 Finland vs Belarus (18:00)
C3 Moldova vs Faroe Islands (18:00)
A3 Czechia vs England
A3 Spain vs Croatia
B1 Scotland vs Switzerland
B1 Slovenia vs North Macedonia
C1 San Marino vs Albania
C3 Slovakia vs Kazakhstan
C4 Bulgaria vs Estonia
C4 Luxembourg vs Iceland

Source: punchng.com

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

INSTAGRAM

See also  Joy Omewa hits WSL eligibility status

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

Ronaldo, Gyokeres, Haaland, 15 other Nations League hat-trick heroes

Published

on

Serbia forward Aleksandar Mitrović and Slovenia striker Benjamin Šeško are the only players to have scored in five consecutive UEFA Nations League matches, according to UEFA.

Benjamin Sesko
Benjamin Sesko. Credit: Sky Sport

The pair share the competition’s longest scoring streak, with Mitrović finding the net in five successive matches between June 5, 2022 and October 12, 2024, while Šeško achieved the feat between June 12, 2022 and September 9, 2024.

Both players also scored hat-tricks during their respective scoring runs.

Mitrović scored three times against Sweden on September 24, 2022, while Šeško netted a treble against Kazakhstan on September 9, 2024.

Meanwhile, UEFA, in a Saturday release, said 18 different players have scored Nations League hat-tricks, with Finland forward Joel Pohjanpalo the latest to join the list after scoring three times in Finland’s 7-0 victory over San Marino in September 2026.

Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo remains the only player to score a hat-trick in the Nations League Finals.

His treble came against Switzerland in the 2019 semi-final.

Norway forward Erling Haaland and Spain’s Ferran Torres are the youngest players to score Nations League hat-tricks, doing so at 20 years and 82 days and 20 years and 262 days respectively.

Norway’s forward #09 Erling Braut Haaland celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the 2026 World Cup Group I football match between Norway and Senegal at the New York/New Jersey Stadium in East Rutherford on June 22, 2026. (Photo by Angela WEISS / AFP)

Nations League players with hat-tricks

– Yura Movsisyan (Armenia) — vs Gibraltar, November 16, 2018*

– Haris Seferović (Switzerland) — vs Belgium, November 18, 2018

– James Forrest (Scotland) — vs Israel, November 20, 2018

– Arber Zeneli (Kosovo) — vs Azerbaijan, November 20, 2018

– Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) — vs Switzerland, June 5, 2019

See also  CAF backs FIFA after governance apology, endorses Infantino

– Erling Haaland (Norway) — vs Romania, October 11, 2020

– Eran Zahavi (Israel) — vs Slovakia, October 14, 2020

– Haris Vučkić (Slovenia) — vs Moldova, October 14, 2020

– Ferran Torres (Spain) — vs Germany, November 17, 2020

– Stefan Mugoša (Montenegro) — vs Romania, June 14, 2022

– Aleksandar Mitrović (Serbia) — vs Sweden, September 24, 2022

– Benjamin Šeško (Slovenia) — vs Kazakhstan, September 9, 2024

– Kerem Aktürkoğlu (Türkiye) — vs Iceland, September 9, 2024

– Isaac Price (Northern Ireland) — vs Bulgaria, October 15, 2024

– Erling Haaland (Norway) — vs Kazakhstan, November 17, 2024

– Viktor Gyökeres (Sweden) — vs Azerbaijan, November 19, 2024*

Gyokeres celebrates his late winning goal
Sports Press Photo, SPP Sport Press Photo. / Alamy / Profimedia

– Nikola Krstović (Montenegro) — vs Türkiye, November 19, 202

– Vedat Muriqi (Kosovo) — vs Iceland, March 23, 2025

– Joel Pohjanpalo (Finland) — vs San Marino, September 26, 2026

*UEFA denotes Movsisyan and Gyökeres as players who scored four goals in those matches.

Longest successive scoring runs

5 matches

– Aleksandar Mitrović (Serbia) — June 5, 2022 to October 12, 2024
– Benjamin Šeško (Slovenia) — June 12, 2022 to September 9, 2024

4 matches

– Răzvan Marin (Romania) — September 6, 2024 to October 15, 2024
– Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia) — October 14, 2020 to June 9, 2022
– Georges Mikautadze (Georgia) — November 16, 2024 to September 25, 2026
– Viktor Gyökeres (Sweden) — October 14, 2024 to present

Source: punchng.com

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

INSTAGRAM

Continue Reading

Sports

Messi scores 76th free-kick goal, moves within two of all-time record

Published

on

Lionel Messi curled home a spectacular free-kick from a near-impossible angle to equalise for Inter Miami against Columbus Crew on Sunday, taking his career total of free-kick goals to 76 and moving within two of the all-time record, according to football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano.

The Argentine, 39, stood over a set-piece awarded near the right touchline in the 33rd minute after Columbus had taken an early lead through Josef Martínez. Rather than deliver a cross into the box, Messi struck the ball with his left foot, sending it over the wall and into the far top corner beyond the reach of goalkeeper Patrick Schulte.

The goal made the score 1-1, though Columbus went on to win 2-1 with a late stoppage-time strike.

The free-kick was Messi’s 76th in official matches across his career with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Miami and Argentina.

It leaves him two short of the mark most widely attributed to Brazilian Marcelinho Carioca, who is credited with 78 direct free-kick goals.

Messi has enjoyed a prolific run from set pieces in 2026. He scored against San Diego FC to reach 75, netted twice in Inter Miami’s 7-1 win over CF Montréal, and also found the net from free-kicks against Orlando City, New York City FC, and Jordan with Argentina at the World Cup.

The latest strike continues Messi’s late-career mastery of free-kicks. He scored 50 for Barcelona, more than a dozen for Argentina, and has added further goals for Inter Miami since joining the MLS side in 2023.

See also  Omoba Adegboyega Folaranmi Adedoyin, M.D.: Nigeria’s Pioneer Olympic Finalist and Medical Luminary

His overall career goal tally now stands above 931.

Historical free-kick records can vary depending on the criteria used by different compilers, with some lists still placing Juninho Pernambucano near the top with 77.

However, recent tallies consistently rank Marcelinho Carioca first and Messi second after the Columbus goal.

Source: punchng.com

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

INSTAGRAM

Continue Reading

Sports

Coach Jorge reveals why Ronaldo missed Portugal’s victory against Norway

Published

on

Portugal manager Jorge Jesus has clarified why Cristiano Ronaldo remained an unused substitute throughout the 2-1 UEFA Nations League victory over Norway in Oslo on Sunday.

Ronaldo, 41, was named among the substitutes and was fit to play, but stayed on the bench for the full 90 minutes as Gonçalo Ramos started up front and scored the winning goal.

Jesus said he had initially planned to introduce the captain.

As reported by Fabrizio Romano on X on Monday, the coach was quoted as saying,  “I was thinking of Cristiano to come in… but then the game dictates other things,” he explained.

The coach emphasised that the decision was purely tactical and not related to fitness concerns. “I felt it wasn’t the right time to put him in the game. There are still two more games, but it wasn’t to protect him physically. He was ready,” Jesus added.

He further revealed that he had even agreed with Ronaldo beforehand to bring him on for the final half-hour. However, Ramos was performing well — scoring one goal and having another disallowed — and the match situation required different changes to maintain balance and protect the result.

Portugal used all five permitted substitutions, introducing players such as Vitinha, Rafael Leão, Rúben Neves, Francisco Trincão and Bernardo Silva, but Ronaldo was not among them.

Jesus left the door open for Ronaldo’s return in the upcoming fixtures, suggesting he could start against Denmark.

The result leaves Portugal top of their Nations League group after back-to-back wins.

See also  Tinubu Confers National Honours, Awards $100k To Super Falcons

Source: punchng.com

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

INSTAGRAM

Continue Reading

Trending