France beat Italy to top group, Haaland leads Norway to big win

France took the lead in their group in the UEFA Nations League after beating hosts Italy 3-1 in the sixth and final round of matches, today, Sunday.

France took the lead with two goals scored by Adrien Rabiot and an own goal by Italy goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario in the 3rd and 33rd minutes.

The Italian team quickly reduced the difference with a goal by Andrea Cambiaso in the 35th minute, and the first half ended with the visitors leading.

In the second half, Rabiot added his second goal and France's third in the 65th minute.

🟣🎥 Special Report | France take top spot in UEFA Nations League with win over hosts Italy
🎙️ Report | Youssef Suhaili pic.twitter.com/811a1BsuuO

— beIN SPORTS News (@beINSPORTSNews) November 17, 2024

With this victory, the French national team responded to its loss to Italy in the first match with the same score of 1/3 at the Parc des Princes stadium in the capital, Paris, on September 6.

The two teams were tied with 13 points, and had both secured qualification to the quarter-finals before this match, but the French team snatched the group lead at the end of the journey.

In another match at the same time, the Belgian team lost to its Israeli counterpart by one goal, leaving the two teams tied with four points.

But the Belgian team outperformed on goal difference to take third place, while its Israeli counterpart was relegated to the second level by finishing last in the group.

Haaland leads Belgium to the first level

In another match, Erling Haaland scored a hat-trick to lead his country, Norway, to a big win over its guest, Kazakhstan, with a score of 5/0.

The Norwegian national team ended the first half with a three-goal lead, with Haaland scoring two goals and Alexander Sorloth scoring one goal in the 23rd, 37th and 41st minutes.

In the second half, Haaland completed the hat-trick by scoring the fourth goal in the 71st minute, and Antonio Nossa concluded the five-goal haul in the 76th minute.

Haaland raised his tally to 7 goals to top the Nations League scorers list in his fourth season, and his tally now stands at 38 goals in 39 international matches for his country.

Haaland continued his brilliance by scoring 22 goals with Norway and his English team, Manchester City, since the beginning of the current season.

After scoring two goals against Kazakhstan, Haaland tops the scorers list in the UEFA Nations League with 6 goals #UEFA_NationsLeague #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/MXZoaFXstu

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) November 17, 2024

With this big win, Norway jumped to the top of Group 3 in the second level, to snatch the qualification card for the first level, while Kazakhstan's balance froze at one point in the fourth and last place.

The Norwegian national team also benefited from this lead in obtaining a ticket to the qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

In another match at the same time, Austria tied with its guest Slovenia with a score of 1/1.

Austria took the lead through Romano Schmid in the 27th minute, with Adam Sherin equalising for the visitors in the 81st minute.

Austria dropped to second place with 11 points, losing the direct qualification card to the first level, and will play in the qualifying play-offs. As for Slovenia, it remained in third place with 8 points.

(Agencies)