PARIS: Germany securing a place in UEFA League of Nations quarter final with a 1-0 win over the old rival Netherlands on Monday, when France win at Belgium and Italy continue the new revival.
Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling scored on his debut to give Germany victory over the Netherlands in Munich and secure one of the top two spots in Group 3 of the A League.
It was the eighth meeting between the teams in the last six years, but for the Dutch, no one knew about Leweling.
The 23-year-old is an addition to Germany’s squad for this month’s match following Jamal Musiala’s injury.
He was then called up from the bench to start the match following an injury to club teammate Deniz Undav during the warm-up.
Leweling found the net after just two minutes only for an effort to be ruled out for offside in the build-up, but then blasted in the winner on 64 minutes.
“Jamie had an incredible debut – it’s not often that the Allianz Arena gives us such a reception – he did well,” said captain Joshua Kimmich.
Germany have 10 points from four games and will definitely be in the quarter-finals next March.
The Netherlands, who are without the suspended Virgil van Dijk, are level on five points with Hungary.
Hungary won 2-0 on Monday in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with captain Dominik Szoboszlai, of Liverpool, opening the scoring late in the first half and adding a penalty after the break.
Italy remain at the top of Group A2 after easing to a 4-1 win at home to Israel in Udine.
Mateo Retegui opened the scoring with a penalty shortly before half-time and captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo scored twice in the second half.
Davide Frattesi also scored for Italy, with Mohammad Abu Fani pulling one back for Israel.
Kolo Muani beat Belgium
France are a point behind Italy after another win in the absence of Kylian Mbappe, a double by Randal Kolo Muani in a 2-1 win in Belgium.
Kolo Muani’s opener from the penalty spot in the 35th minute at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels was canceled out by Lois Openda in the first half.
But Kolo Muani, who has had a difficult start to the season with his club, was the winner after the hour mark.
France, who saw Belgian Youri Tielemans throw away an early spot-kick, were kept to 10 men after captain Aurelien Tchouameni was sent off late on.
The result was France’s second win in as many games this international break, although they were captain minus Mbappe, who was ruled out of the match after a thigh injury.
As Les Bleus took to the field in the Belgian capital, there were newspaper reports in Sweden claiming that Mbappe was under investigation for rape following his visit to Stockholm last week.
Mbappe made the claim in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, which was linked to a hearing before the French league committee on Tuesday in a bitter dispute over unpaid wages with former club Paris Saint-Germain.
“FAKE NEWS !!!!. It’s so predictable, on the night of the trial, as if it was a coincidence,” Mbappe posted.
It remains to be seen if the Real Madrid star will return for the group games of the League of Nations at the end of next month, when France can secure a place in the quarter-finals, but Kolo Muani staked his claim to keep his place.
“I like him,” coach Didier Deschamps told L’Equipe TV.
“Randal performed very well for us. He is full of confidence and the first game (against Israel) also made him good.”
Elsewhere on Monday, Turkey won 4-2 in Iceland to stay top of Group B4, with all the goals in Reykjavik coming in the final half hour.
Irfan Can Kahveci, Inter Milan’s Hakan Calhanoglu, Real Madrid’s Arda Guler and Kerem Akturkoglu all scored for Turkey.
With 10 points, they are two ahead of Wales in the race for promotion to the A League.
Crag Bellamy’s side beat Montenegro 1-0 in Cardiff thanks to Harry Wilson’s penalty.
The Czech Republic top Group B1 after a 1-1 draw against Ukraine, while Albania beat Georgia 1-0.
In Group C1, Sweden won 3-0 in Estonia and Slovakia beat Azerbaijan 3-1.
