Nations League: Wales promoted, Turkey relegated, Denmark miss out on Final Four

Wednesday (18/11) was the final day of international action this calendar year. Of the three Royal Blues involved, only Ozan Kabak got minutes, with Frederik Rönnow and Rabbi Matondo unused subs. schalke04.com rounds up 2020’s last international fixtures.

Ozan Kabak

Ozan Kabak was named in the starting line-up for Turkey, who were beaten 2-0 away to Hungary in their final UEFA Nations League Group 3 game in League B. The Royal Blues’ centre-back played the full 90 minutes, but was unable to prevent goals from David Siger (57’) and Kevin Varga (90+5’).

Turkey still had a chance of topping the group ahead of kick-off, but instead they slipped to last place following a big 5-0 win for Serbia over Russia in the group’s other game. It means Kabak & Co. will begin the next Nations League campaign in League C.

No minutes for Rönnow

Denmark missed to chance to jump to the top of Group 2 in League A on Wednesday and qualify for the Final Four tournament in autumn 2021 as a result. Unlike against Iceland, Frederik Rönnow was an unused substitute for the 1992 European champions’ 4-2 loss to Belgium. A brace from Romelu Lukaku, plus goals from Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne were enough to give the Belgians a chance of winning the 2020/21 edition of the UEFA Nations League next year.

A Denmark win would have seen them leapfrog Belgium in the standings, but they instead ended up with ten points, five adrift of the Red Devils in second place.

Matondo not in Wales squad

Rabbi Matondo was not included in the Wales squad for their final Nations League Group 4 game in League B. They secured a 3-1 win over Finland without him to defend their spot at the top of the group, with their 16 points in total earning them promotion to League A.

Finland went down to ten men early on in the game, allowing Harry Wilson (29’) and Daniel James (46’) to put Wales two goals ahead. Former Schalke player Teemu Pukki pulled one back after 63 minutes, but Kieffer Moore wrapped up the victory shortly before full time.

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