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Writer's pictureTone Rasmussen

Nations League: Looking back at the Second-Round

Updated: Oct 27, 2023


The Nations League for Women is rolling and we've already had some great and exciting matchups, and there is more to come this weekend.


In group A1 there has already been some drama with Belgium leading the group ahead of The Netherlands and England. Here is a quick recap of the results from last match weekend.


Belgium beat the Netherlands 2-1 and drew Scotland 1-1. Scotland lost 1-0 to England and then England lost 2-1 to the Netherlands from a last-minute goal by Renate Jansen.


The results will make all of the games from this group a must-watch since there is potential for a shocking outcome. England will take on Belgium at home while Scotland will travel to The Netherlands. Both games will be played on Friday.



Star players injured


France is leading the second group with 6 points ahead of the game against Norway on Friday. France will look to go three points clear of Portugal in second place in this match.


Norway is missing several starting players. Caroline Graham Hansen, Guro Reiten, and Ada Hegerberg are all out injured. Norway is already in a critical situation after not being able to pull out a win against Austria at home and then losing to Portugal.


Portugal was really good against Norway and will look to build on that momentum against Austria.


Even with a comfortable 4-0 win against Iceland, Germany still looks a bit shaky after the 2-0 loss to Denmark. They will be playing Wales who sit last in group A3 and need to take this opportunity to build even more confidence. Despite the loss, they are still predicted to win the group by the end.


Amalie Vansgaard became the hero for Denmark when she scored a brace against Germany and will hopefully continue her good form against Iceland on Friday.



Ingrid Engen and Dolores Isabel Jacome Silva Photo:@kvinnelandslaget on Instagram



Spain narrowly beat Sweden


Amanda Ilestedt got the honor, if you could call it that, to be given the first red card. Temperature ran high when Sweden leveled 8 minutes before full-time against Spain.


Ilestedt got the red card after pulling a Spanish player down in the box. Mariona Caldentey scored the following penalty and with a win against Switzerland as well they are top of the group. Switzerland, who had a narrow defeat to Italy will be playing Sweden in the next game.


All in all, there is still a lot up for grabs and it might be closer than what one first would think.


A game from group B1 to keep a close eye on is the Serbia - Poland game on Friday. Both teams have two wins and have 6 points ahead of their matchup. Poland's Małgorzata Grec will miss the game due to a red card but with an in-form Ewa Pajor Poland hopes to go top of the group and clear of Serbia.


Ewa Pajor against Ukraine Photo: @ on Instagram


Ireland, Finland, and the Czech Republic all have a couple of points margin on top of their groups. Ireland and Finland are yet to concede a goal.


Ireland has had a really good start to their Nations League campaign with Eileen Gleeson as interim head coach. They are also the team with the most scored goals and have had six different goal scorers which shows how well the offense is running.




Must see games


It is very hard to choose what games to watch when there are so many exciting games to pick from but here are my top three choices!


England vs Belgium

Belgium have shown on several occasions that they are more than capable of pulling off a shocking win. With England still rattled by the loss to The Netherlands they will be very motivated to win big in front of a home crowd.


Not winning is not an option for the Lionesses and Belgium will be motivated to continue the good run of form.


The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network at 2:45 pm ET.


Poland vs Serbia

As said earlier these are two undefeated teams and this is a very interesting and important game to see who will go top of the group. Hopefully, we are in for an intense and exciting match.


If I had to pick a favorite in this game it would be Poland but this game can go either way.


The game will take place at 11:45 am ET


Norway vs France

Norway is off to a very bad start after a draw and a loss. France is a strong team and is looking better than they have in a long time. This might be bad news for a Norway team that has been struggling in defense and closing out games.


France is the favorite to win this game but on the good days, Norway can be hard to break down.


The game will kick off at 1 pm ET





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