Nations League: Slovakia’s demise continues, French shamefully last

The third edition of the Nations League seems to be the most unpredictable so far. The favourites are losing, which was confirmed on Monday. Another loss for the French means they remain in last place, while the Slovaks have moved further away from promotion to League B.

Let’s start with the Czech group. Somewhat overshadowed by the defeat in Malaga was the success of the Swiss, who beat the Portuguese at home with a first minute goal. They are now only one point behind the Czech Republic in third place.

The June meeting ends without a single win for the French. On Monday, they fell ignominiously at home to Croatia with a goal from Luka Modric, and in the match played in parallel, the Danes beat the Austrians 2:0 thanks to a good first half.

The French not only lost the chance to defend their triumph in the competition, but they will go into the penultimate round from the bottom of the table. They are two points behind the Austrians, five behind second-placed Croatia and seven behind the leaders Denmark.

Only one match has been played in League B. Iceland led twice over Israel, but in the end the points were shared after a 2-2 draw. Russia could not play Albania due to the invasion of Ukraine. Israel leads the table after three games with five points.

The Slovaks made their return to Group B much more difficult on Monday. They were quickly down 0:2 in Kazakhstan and could only manage to reduce their lead in the rest of the match. Azerbaijan, meanwhile, beat Belarus 2-0 at home.

With two rounds to go, the Slovaks are four points behind first place Kazakhstan, and it doesn’t look like they will move up a group. On the other hand, Belarus is close to relegation with just one point, while Azerbaijan is third with four points.

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