⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[Rruchi man]

Weren't the referee's decisions a bit strange? Why was Van Dijk's goal disallowed? There was no foul there.

Brobbey obstructed the goal keeper, maybe you didn’t see that part of the game.

Regarding Germany's goal, the Dutch players expected the referee to stop play, but he didn't the Netherlands should have kept playing, but because they didn't, they conceded the goal.

Had they stayed focused on the game and kept defending, that goal wouldn't have happened.

They in the moment forgot that it is only in the case of a head injury that the referee will have to stop the game.

It was an enjoyable game, they both did well to have the game end in a draw.

[pawel7777]

Fixtures and odds (sourced from 1win.com) for all 8 of the tomorrow's games are:

Georgia x1.84 Vs Northern Ireland x4.50; Draw x3.51
Armenia x1.78 Vs Latvia x4.70; Draw x3.62
Turkey x7.70 Vs France x1.39; Draw x5.10
Sweden x1.49 Vs Romania x6.10; Draw x4.60
Italy x2.23 Vs Belgium x3.19; Draw x3.55
Poland x1.67 Vs Bosnia-Herzegovina x5.20; Draw x3.88
Montenegro x1.75 Vs Cyprus x4.84; Draw x3.68
Hungary x2.32 Vs Ukraine x3.20; Draw x3.28

The two biggest favourites are France in their game against Turkey and Sweden against Romania.
I don't have that much confidence in France. Sure, they rightfully are the favourite, but I think it could be a tough game, as Turks tend to be very fierce when playing at home.

[Majestic-milf]

Weren't the referee's decisions a bit strange? Why was Van Dijk's goal disallowed? There was no foul there.

Brobbey obstructed the goal keeper, maybe you didn’t see that part of the game.

Regarding Germany's goal, the Dutch players expected the referee to stop play, but he didn't the Netherlands should have kept playing, but because they didn't, they conceded the goal.

Had they stayed focused on the game and kept defending, that goal wouldn't have happened.

They in the moment forgot that it is only in the case of a head injury that the referee will have to stop the game.

It was an enjoyable game, they both did well to have the game end in a draw.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that it was only 2 shots on target that Germany registered in the game whereas Netherlands pressed and pressed. It's usually the other way round in their other meetings and I'm glad that for all their struggles, Netherlands could go home with something, even if it wasn't the whole three points. It was a very great game, very interesting too. Beat my expectations, if I'm being honest.

[Silverstonez]

Did you see the goal Ronaldo missed into an empty net? I still don't understand why he insist to play. It's time for him to retire. It used to be great to watch him, but now he's hurting the team. What would have happened if Wales had scored a goal? Portugal won by a single goal, the match could have ended in a tie.

If Ronaldo had retired, he would have been remembered fondly, but now he's making headlines for mistakes like this in every game and it's damaging his reputation.

Ronaldo is no longer in the prime of his career, so don’t expect much from him. According to what I read online a few weeks back,  although I don’t know if it’s true or not that the Portuguese government doesn’t want him to retire from the national team because he is considered a national icon and his presence is seen as important for the country’s football image and younger generation. Secondly, Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation only Ronaldo’s haters are the ones who are making it seem that way. No matter how Ronaldo’s haters want to paint the story he’s still the real goat.

[Joca97]

Did you see the goal Ronaldo missed into an empty net? I still don't understand why he insist to play. It's time for him to retire. It used to be great to watch him, but now he's hurting the team. What would have happened if Wales had scored a goal? Portugal won by a single goal, the match could have ended in a tie.

If Ronaldo had retired, he would have been remembered fondly, but now he's making headlines for mistakes like this in every game and it's damaging his reputation.

Ronaldo is no longer in the prime of his career, so don’t expect much from him. According to what I read online a few weeks back,  although I don’t know if it’s true or not that the Portuguese government doesn’t want him to retire from the national team because he is considered a national icon and his presence is seen as important for the country’s football image and younger generation. Secondly, Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation only Ronaldo’s haters are the ones who are making it seem that way. No matter how Ronaldo’s haters want to paint the story he’s still the real goat.

Ronaldo is a living legend in Portugal and if he wants to continue to play for Portugal he will play. I still think that at this age he cannot give much on the field for Portugal only off it. They need to find a serious replacement for him soon because i think the next Euros will probobly be the last tournament he will play for Portugal. He has a lot of haters but i think he cannot score like he did in the previous years

[Richbased]

Weren't the referee's decisions a bit strange? Why was Van Dijk's goal disallowed? There was no foul there. As a neutral viewer, I feel the referee was biased today and many others likely share this view if they watched the match. Regarding Germany's goal, the Dutch players expected the referee to stop play, but he didn't the Netherlands should have kept playing, but because they didn't, they conceded the goal.

Had they stayed focused on the game and kept defending, that goal wouldn't have happened.

Well, regardless of the decision of the referee, it's good to know that Netherlands equalized the score in stoppage time because it would have been painful it they had lost the match after all that awesome performance. The Netherlands were dominant in the second half and Germany couldn't even perform again because it was just that 2 shots on target they had in the first half while Netherlands fired in 10 shots. The Netherlands were supposed to win Germany but a draw isn't bad too, all thanks to Cody Gakpo for that late minutes equaliser.

Germany doesn't have a very formidable defensive style which is the reason why the Netherlands always penetrate their defense easily. Jurgen Klopp has a lot of work to do if he wants Germany to succeed under his managerial role.

[nelson4lov]

Fixtures and odds (sourced from 1win.com) for all 8 of the tomorrow's games are:

[...]

The two biggest favourites are France in their game against Turkey and Sweden against Romania.
I don't have that much confidence in France. Sure, they rightfully are the favourite, but I think it could be a tough game, as Turks tend to be very fierce when playing at home.

Turkey... I don't trust them enough to think they can cause an upset tomorrow. I expect France to win comfortably tomorrow by a 2-3 goal margin. its also good that Italy is back as they missed out on the world cup. But I'm going to trust Belgium to come through.

My final picks for all the games tomorrow:

• France 2UP
• Belgium Double chance (x2)

For the other fixtures, I'm not too familiar with their team's performance level, so I'd skip.

[Marykeller]

Did you see the goal Ronaldo missed into an empty net? I still don't understand why he insist to play. It's time for him to retire. It used to be great to watch him, but now he's hurting the team. What would have happened if Wales had scored a goal? Portugal won by a single goal, the match could have ended in a tie.

If Ronaldo had retired, he would have been remembered fondly, but now he's making headlines for mistakes like this in every game and it's damaging his reputation.

Ronaldo is no longer in the prime of his career, so don’t expect much from him. According to what I read online a few weeks back,  although I don’t know if it’s true or not that the Portuguese government doesn’t want him to retire from the national team because he is considered a national icon and his presence is seen as important for the country’s football image and younger generation. Secondly, Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation only Ronaldo’s haters are the ones who are making it seem that way. No matter how Ronaldo’s haters want to paint the story he’s still the real goat.

What you read about Ronaldo is true. It's the Portuguese Football Federation and the new national team coach, not the government, who don't want Ronaldo to retire from the national team.

Link to the full gist: https://insightlinks.net/2026/09/ill-leave-portugal-team-if-im-no-longer-wanted-ronaldo/

As for Ronaldo, he wants to retire from football. Is the national team coach convincing him to keep playing to help the national team.

Ronaldo has a reputation in football; we respect that, and it doesn't seem right for him to make avoidable mistakes that would make people say something unkind to him when they're supposed to give him the respect he deserves as a goat who has made history and tremendous achievements in football

[Joy- maker]

Ronaldo is a living legend in Portugal and if he wants to continue to play for Portugal he will play. I still think that at this age he cannot give much on the field for Portugal only off it. They need to find a serious replacement for him soon because i think the next Euros will probobly be the last tournament he will play for Portugal. He has a lot of haters but i think he cannot score like he did in the previous years

I don't know why Ronaldo is still playing today, that dude is old and he needs to retire as soon as possible, the Portuguese people should stop depending him and start look for his replacement, there are Portuguese players who are playing excellent football and they skilled. Even if they are no as skilled as Ronaldo, Keeping Ronaldo in the national team instead of allowing him to retire will only delay the transition to the next generation and make Portugal more dependent on him that necessary.

[Justbillywitt]

Turkey... I don't trust them enough to think they can cause an upset tomorrow. I expect France to win comfortably tomorrow by a 2-3 goal margin.

When you see a team that’s going to cause France trouble won’t you know? With due respect to Turkish national team, but even if France decide to field their second eleven, they will win Turkey. The French team will play their first match under Zidane their new manager. So expect the players to be on their best performance as they will aim to impress the new coach. Also Zidane will want to win his first game as head coach of the team. Anyhow you look at the match, it is not looking good for Turkey team.

it’s also good that Italy is back as they missed out on the world cup. But I'm going to trust Belgium to come through.

Be weary of this wounded Italian team, so much has been said about this team about their inability to qualify for the World Cup. They are rebuilding seriously so, I’m not sure if they will want things to continue going wrong for them without responding. Something is telling me that Belgium will have the taste of the new refurbished Italian team.

[Felicity_Tide]

There's something I really don't understand, how come Israel that's in the Middle East is currently playing in the UEFA Nations League, they are not sharing any border with Europe so how come they are playing in this competition? Were they invited? If they were how come it's only them that gets invited from that region. Before anyone talks about Turkey, at least part of Turkey is in Europe. So I really don't understand how Israel gets to play in European competitions, it baffles me though and I'm just wondering.

Well, there are a few things that makes them part of this competition and every other competitions that involves European countries, but the major thing is that their football association is a member of the European football confederation(UEFA). I had to go through the world map just to verify something. Although they seem even more closer to Africa that Europe itself, but I guess they prefer to be a part of UEFA, and not CAF or AFC. Even a country like Cyprus is supposed to be geographically located in western Asia if we're to neglect its isolation, but I guess it was much easier for them to join UEFA because Europe is also close.

And, I think I've heard rumors a certain African country, trying to pull out of CAF to become a member of UEFA. I'm not sure of how true it is, but after checking how close they are to Europe, it dawned on me that there might just be an element of truth to that.

[blomen]

The two biggest favourites are France in their game against Turkey and Sweden against Romania.
I don't have that much confidence in France. Sure, they rightfully are the favourite, but I think it could be a tough game, as Turks tend to be very fierce when playing at home.

i think it’s actually good that france has this odds advantage over turkey. i have almost no expectations for turkey. in the world cup, turkey couldn’t score a single goal in 90 minutes against teams with solid defenses. france is a top quality team in every position, and i think it’s very likely they’ll win.

for the matches that have already ended, i had said that it was highly likely norway would beat denmark. they scored two goals early in the match and, despite conceding two goals later, still won the game.

[Out of mind]

Turkey... I don't trust them enough to think they can cause an upset tomorrow. I expect France to win comfortably tomorrow by a 2-3 goal margin.

When you see a team that’s going to cause France trouble won’t you know? With due respect to Turkish national team, but even if France decide to field their second eleven, they will win Turkey. The French team will play their first match under Zidane their new manager. So expect the players to be on their best performance as they will aim to impress the new coach. Also Zidane will want to win his first game as head coach of the team. Anyhow you look at the match, it is not looking good for Turkey team.

-

Turkey team playing against France will not create any problem for France at all, rather we understand that France is the favorite in the match. Moreover, I think that the new coach of France team Zinedine Zidane will definitely play his best for the team to win and every player will win to impress the coach. Comparatively, we can see that according to the odds between the two teams, we can safely bet on France team and we can expect to win here. Many of us know about Zidane's coaching leadership and his strategy and how great and successful a coach he is, in that case it is not possible for Turkey to defeat France team. At any stage, Turkey team will be defeated by France team and since this is the first match, in that case the team will not want to lose itself, so they can start with the best players in the team.

[meser#]

Weren't the referee's decisions a bit strange? Why was Van Dijk's goal disallowed? There was no foul there. As a neutral viewer, I feel the referee was biased today and many others likely share this view if they watched the match. Regarding Germany's goal, the Dutch players expected the referee to stop play, but he didn't the Netherlands should have kept playing, but because they didn't, they conceded the goal.

Had they stayed focused on the game and kept defending, that goal wouldn't have happened.

Under FIFA's new rules, there was a foul on the goalkeeper. A foul was called because Brobbey impeded Ter Stegen during the play.
It was a very unusual match. Germany scored, and the Dutch players protested. Their protests were pointless, but the referee's demeanor—acting as if he might halt play—gave the Dutch players the confidence to object.
It was an entertaining match. A game that should have seen over 2.5 goals ended 1-1.
Sometimes, scores like this happen.
The cross delivered by Van Bommel was magnificent. His grandfather (former manager Van Marwijk) must have been proud of him; the cameras showed him in the stands from time to time.

[Sally9256]

The two biggest favourites are France in their game against Turkey and Sweden against Romania.
I don't have that much confidence in France. Sure, they rightfully are the favourite, but I think it could be a tough game, as Turks tend to be very fierce when playing at home.

i think it’s actually good that france has this odds advantage over turkey. i have almost no expectations for turkey. in the world cup, turkey couldn’t score a single goal in 90 minutes against teams with solid defenses. france is a top quality team in every position, and i think it’s very likely they’ll win.

for the matches that have already ended, i had said that it was highly likely norway would beat denmark. they scored two goals early in the match and, despite conceding two goals later, still won the game.

France are no match for Turkey obviously, the bookies are aware of it that's why they've favoured France that much. Turkey is not a bad team but they're just not at France's level so France should be able to win it. It might be easy as we expect, Turkey will try to fight hard but France will still be on top no matter what.

Yesterday's games results went as expected, Portugal won even though they win narrowly, Norway too, they were the better team but Denmark didn't make it easy. Germany against Netherlands also went as expected, there's no way Germany would visit Netherlands and win so the draw was expected as well.

[Daniel91]

Ronaldo is a living legend in Portugal and if he wants to continue to play for Portugal he will play. I still think that at this age he cannot give much on the field for Portugal only off it. They need to find a serious replacement for him soon because i think the next Euros will probobly be the last tournament he will play for Portugal. He has a lot of haters but i think he cannot score like he did in the previous years

I don't know why Ronaldo is still playing today, that dude is old and he needs to retire as soon as possible, the Portuguese people should stop depending him and start look for his replacement, there are Portuguese players who are playing excellent football and they skilled. Even if they are no as skilled as Ronaldo, Keeping Ronaldo in the national team instead of allowing him to retire will only delay the transition to the next generation and make Portugal more dependent on him that necessary.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with this.
Ronaldo is, along with Eusebio, one of the 2 best Portuguese footballers of all time, but he was born on February 5, 1985 and is already 41 years old.
It is true that Ronaldo has great experience, charisma and a great football history, but he no longer has the speed, explosiveness and efficiency in attack that he once had.
Even at the 2022 World Cup, it was possible to see that Portugal actually plays better without Ronaldo because with him they actually have 1 less player in defense and he is powerless in attack, which was especially evident in the match against Morocco.
In a way, the Portuguese national team has become Ronaldo's hostage, and this is an example of what happens when someone's ego and the pursuit of football records cloud reality.
As for yesterday's matches, it is evident that Serbia is still in a crisis of game and results, Germany finally played 1 good game after a bad performance at the world championship, while Norway continues with good performances and victories thanks to Haaland.
Today, the most interesting match will be between Italy and Belgium, and I would give that slight advantage to Belgium.

[Futurexxx]

Well, regardless of the decision of the referee, it's good to know that Netherlands equalized the score in stoppage time because it would have been painful it they had lost the match after all that awesome performance. The Netherlands were dominant in the second half and Germany couldn't even perform again because it was just that 2 shots on target they had in the first half while Netherlands fired in 10 shots. The Netherlands were supposed to win Germany but a draw isn't bad too, all thanks to Cody Gakpo for that late minutes equaliser.

Germany doesn't have a very formidable defensive style which is the reason why the Netherlands always penetrate their defense easily. Jurgen Klopp has a lot of work to do if he wants Germany to succeed under his managerial role.

I wasn't that surprised in the way the Netherlands play because their new manager xavi Hernandez is a manager that focus on possession base style of football, so I expect them to be even more better than this when they have blended very well with his playing pattern.
As for klopp's German team, they are still a long way off from how klopp wants his team to play, so their is a lot of work that needs to be done, as you have already said, because if the Netherlands were ruthless in front of goal, or in the final third, their is no way they the German national team would have walked away with a point in this game.

[yenerbatmaz]

We kick off our Nations League campaign today with the match against France. Our defensive line will consist of Ozan and Abdülkerim. How are we going to stop players like Doué, Dembélé, Mbappé, and Olise? I’m not even sure if Ferdi can stop Olise.
If someone offered me a scenario where France wins 0–1 without us even having to play the match, I’d accept it immediately. I’m worried about suffering a heavy defeat.

[AprilioMP]

Ronaldo is no longer in the prime of his career, so don’t expect much from him. According to what I read online a few weeks back,  although I don’t know if it’s true or not that the Portuguese government doesn’t want him to retire from the national team because he is considered a national icon and his presence is seen as important for the country’s football image and younger generation. Secondly, Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation only Ronaldo’s haters are the ones who are making it seem that way. No matter how Ronaldo’s haters want to paint the story he’s still the real goat.

I agree that Ronaldo is no longer at the peak of his career. If age is just a number, that applies to Ronaldo’s physical condition, but not to his sharpness on the field.

What I noticed in the match against Wales was that two good scoring opportunities failed to result in goals, even though the probability of converting them was over 60%. The most notable chance came when Neves played a pull-back pass to Ronaldo, who was already in front of the goal and didn’t need much physical effort, but Ronaldo’s shot wasn’t on target. In the 48th minute, another chance came for Ronaldo. At that moment, Ronaldo needed the physical stamina to run, and he did so, but his speed didn’t translate into a goal.

[POPOLUV]

Did you see the goal Ronaldo missed into an empty net? I still don't understand why he insist to play. It's time for him to retire. It used to be great to watch him, but now he's hurting the team. What would have happened if Wales had scored a goal? Portugal won by a single goal, the match could have ended in a tie.

If Ronaldo had retired, he would have been remembered fondly, but now he's making headlines for mistakes like this in every game and it's damaging his reputation.

Ronaldo is no longer in the prime of his career, so don’t expect much from him. According to what I read online a few weeks back,  although I don’t know if it’s true or not that the Portuguese government doesn’t want him to retire from the national team because he is considered a national icon and his presence is seen as important for the country’s football image and younger generation. Secondly, Ronaldo is not damaging his reputation only Ronaldo’s haters are the ones who are making it seem that way. No matter how Ronaldo’s haters want to paint the story he’s still the real goat.

You are very correct because it is only your haters that will keep kicking against anything that they are aware that you are not only one benefiting from but the national team as large, so if what you red last week concerning Portuguese government enforcing that he doesn't want Christian Ronaldo to just retire from the national team is really true and within Christian Ronaldo alone he wants to retire, probably for the sake of the respect and love Christian Ronaldo has for his president and the country, i think Christina Ronaldo might reconsider the fact of still playing for his national team and not minding what his haters will be saying.