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The Guardian
Nations League: Wales v Turkey, France v Italy and more – clockwatch
By Scott Murray,
2 hours ago
Wales' Ben Davies attempts an acrobatic shot past Turkey's Abdulkerim Bardakci. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
9.01pm BST
GOAL! Kosovo 0-2 Romania (Marin 50 pen). Another penalty, another lead doubled. Răzvan Marin scoring from the spot after opening goalscorer Dennis Man goes down in the box.
8.59pm BST
GOAL! Belgium 3-1 Israel (De Bruyne 52 pen). Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco clearly gave his charges the what-for during the break. The hosts double the size of their cushion, Loïs Openda upended to allow Kevin De Bruyne to slot from the spot.
8.56pm BST
GOAL! France 1-2 Italy (Frattesi 51)
Mateo Retegui tees up Davide Frattesi and suddenly Italy’s first victory in Paris since 1954 is on!
8.53pm BST
GOAL! Belgium 2-1 Israel (Tielemans 48). It’s not taken long for the Red Devils to re-establish their lead in Debrecen. Youri Tielemans the man.
8.51pm BST
Wales 0-0 Turkey. During the break in Cardiff, the big screen paid tribute to former Bluebirds defender Sol Bamba, who recently passed. Warm applause all around the ground.
8.49pm BST
Off we go again, then. In Paris, Italy have survived the first 13 seconds of the half this time.
8.42pm BST
Half-time postbag. “Italy going from strength to strength: after conceding the fastest-ever Euro finals goal (23 seconds v Albania), they’ve now conceded probably the fastest ever Nations League goal” – Andy (not that one) Flintoff
“Do the French team have a new and more adventurous trainer with the same name as Didier Deschamps and who looks exactly like him? This is fast, relentless stuff, not the usual plonking wait-for-Kylian-to-do-something quagmire. France are nippy and entertaining . May not last” – Charles Antaki (whose email arrived a couple of minutes before Italy’s equaliser)
“In reply to Andy Flintoff’s assertion that Erling Haaland should have chosen to play for England rather than Norway; maybe he would have if his dad’s football career didn’t end when it did. Maybe Haaland Jr would have gone to school here, developed greater affinity for the country of his birth and turned out for England. You can thank Roy Keane that none of this happened” – Cathal Chu
“I can heartily recommend the local beer, for those like Alun Pugh in Nikšić, specifically Nikšićko” – Laoi Ó Murchù
8.36pm BST
The half-times
A2 Belgium 1-1 Israel France 1-1 Italy
B3 Kazakhstan 0-0 Norway (F) Slovenia 1-1 Austria
B4 Iceland 1-0 Montenegro Wales 0-0 Turkey
C2 Kosovo 0-1 Romania Lithuania 0-1 Cyprus (F)
8.34pm BST
GOAL! Kosovo 0-1 Romania (Man 40). Dennis Man gives the visitors the lead in Pristina.
8.32pm BST
GOAL! Iceland 1-0 Montenegro (Óskarsson 39). Orri Óskarsson converts his captain Johann Gudmundsson’s corner, and the hosts take the lead in Reykjavik. HÚH!
8.30pm BST
GOAL! Slovenia 1-1 Austria (Laimer 28). A bit late with news of Konrad Laimer’s equaliser, but this dispatch is here at long last.
Updated at 8.37pm BST
8.28pm BST
GOAL! Belgium 1-1 Israel (Khalaili 36). Anan Khalaili with a header that takes a nick on the way in.
8.27pm BST
Wales 0-0 Turkey. Turkey’s stand-in captain Kaan Ayhan is the latest player to see yellow, after a cynical clip on Sorba Thomas. If this match ends up with 22 players on the field, we’ll be doing well.
8.26pm BST
Wales 0-0 Turkey. Wales have the ball in the net but it won’t count. A simple punt down the middle does for Turkey, who are all over the place. Sorba Thomas tears clear and lobs Mert Günok, who gets a hand on the ball but can’t stop it looping into the unguarded net. Sadly Thomas went too soon, something both linesman and VAR aggree on.
8.24pm BST
GOAL! France 1-1 Italy (Dimarco 30)
Italy haven’t won in Paris for 70 years. But in the wake of that nightmare start, the dream is back on. And this is an absolute pearler ! Andrea Cambiaso drifts in from the right and sprays a pass towards Federico Dimarco on the other flank. Dimarco rolls infield for Sandro Tonali, who strokes a defence-splitting backheeled return down the inside-left channel. Dimarco meets the dropping ball and sends an elegant volley across Mike Maignan and into the top right! There may not be a better goal all season.
Updated at 8.35pm BST
8.19pm BST
Wales 0-0 Turkey. A spate of bookings in Cardiff. Kenan Yıldız is late on Connor Roberts. An in-flight Yıldız is then cynically pulled back by Harry Wilson. Then Yıldız is tugged back by Brennan Johnson; another yellow. And finally Barış Alper Yılmaz is booked, rather weirdly it has to be said, after being lightly brushed by Joe Rodon in the Wales penalty box, then taking exception to Rodon’s attempt at hauling him back to his feet. Rodon makes himself scarce, having got away with one there.
8.13pm BST
GOAL! Belgium 1-0 Israel (De Bruyne 21). Kevin De Bruyne does what his Manchester City team-mate Erling Haaland couldn’t manage earlier in Kazakhstan. A goal! Their fellow Citizen, Jérémy Doku, tees it up with a run down the left and cutback.
Updated at 8.31pm BST
8.10pm BST
GOAL! Slovenia 1-0 Austria (Šeško 16 pen). Benjamin Šeško gives the hosts the lead from the spot in Ljubljana.
8.07pm BST
Wales 0-0 Turkey. Harry Wilson sends a free kick in from the left. Ben Davies tries to steer home an acrobatic shot at the far stick but his shot is deflected out for a corner. The set piece is half cleared, but Connor Roberts curls a sensational ball in from the right. It drops to Joe Rodon, six yards out and all alone. He’s been played onside, and has to score, but leans back and shanks his sidefooted effort yards over the bar. Oh dear. What fine play otherwise, though. What a ball in from Roberts.
Updated at 8.12pm BST
8.02pm BST
Wales 0-0 Turkey. Wales are well on top here. Harry Wilson makes a nuisance of himself near the centre circle to spook Turkey into shipping possession. The ball breaks to Ethan Ampadu who strides forward and lashes a fierce shot well wide right of goal. The early signs suggest that Craig Bellamy’s new high-speed pass-and-move style could be fun.
7.59pm BST
Wales 0-0 Turkey. Another good chance for Aaron Ramsey, who meets Sorba Thomas’s right-wing corner but gets his feet in a tangle at the near post. The ball clanks wide. It might not have been easier to score, but it was probably just as easy to hit the target. Either way, chalk it up as another poor connection.
7.57pm BST
France 1-0 Italy. That was a nightmare start for Italy, and in particular Giovanni Di Lorenzo, who was snoozing and snoozing hard as Bradley Barcola waltzed off with his swag. What pressing by Barcola, though. If only Euro 2024 favourites France had been similarly proactive in Germany, huh.
7.53pm BST
Wales 0-0 Turkey. The hosts have started on the front foot in Cardiff. Connor Roberts storms down the right flank and crosses for Aaron Ramsey, who throws himself at the ball, eight yards out, and flashes a header over the bar. Actually on second glance, the ball hit his shoulder. A slightly scrappy end to an otherwise swashbuckling move.
Updated at 8.00pm BST
7.49pm BST
GOAL! France 1-0 Italy (Barcola 13 sec)
Well, that didn’t take long. Italy kick off, faff around at the back, and watch in horror as Bradley Barcola steals the ball, romps down the inside-left channel, enters the box, and slams home.
Updated at 7.56pm BST
7.47pm BST
Here we go, then. Let’s see if the 12 teams playing tonight can add to today’s running tally of one Nations League goal.
7.43pm BST
The teams are out all across Europe. Patriotic folk music blaring out all over the shop. The rain’s pelting down in Cardiff. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes.\
Updated at 7.57pm BST
7.39pm BST
France and Italy were both disappointing at Euro 2024, in their own distinct but not particularly eye-catching ways. The journey onwards and upwards begins tonight at the Parc des Princes, and despite everything that went on back there in Germany, it’s still a showdown to whet the appetite. Here are how the teams line up.
7.32pm BST
The new Wales boss Craig Bellamy speaks to S4C. “Sorba Thomas has energy and aggressiveness with pressing but also runs in behind … he deserves his place … there’s been a lot of work this week … it was definitely needed … the exciting part is to see how it comes out today … the combinations and the links … the understanding between the players … see how far they’ve come in such a short place of time.”
7.25pm BST
Pre-match postbag. “We appear to have arrived early in Nikšic - the hastily arranged venue for Monday’s game against Montenegro. I’m making some progress with getting my head around the polycentric and digraphic nature of the language formerly known as Serbo-Croat but cannot understand why Karl Darlow has bagged the number one shirt but doesn’t start. Any clues? And it’s a bit of a long shot but does anyone know of a bar here showing the Wales-Turkey game?” – Alun Pugh
“Maybe Erling Haaland should have picked the country of his birth (England) rather than the country of his father? He’d have been just as mobile as Harry Kane at Euro 2024, and might have scored a few more too” – Andy (not that one) Flintoff
7.19pm BST
Craig Bellamy names Aaron Ramsey as captain of his first selection as Wales manager. There’s no Dan James, who is hamstrung, but Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson offer some threat up front. Neco Williams, whose goal against the Turks last November allowed Wales to dream of automatic qualification for 36 minutes, starts at the back, while Nantes winger Sorba Thomas earns a recall.
Turkey – pound for pound, the most entertaining team at the Euros (see below) – start without captain and Ballon d’Or nominee Hakan Çalhanoğlu, who has injury concerns and is wrapped in cotton wool on the bench. Edge-of-seat-bothering 19-year-old superstar-in-waiting Arda Güler starts.
FULL TIME: Lithuania 0-1 Cyprus. Ioannis Pittas the difference-maker in Kaunas on 34 minutes. Only five attempts on target between the teams, which isn’t great but four more than Kazakhstan and Norway mustered. Stay buckled in, kids.
7.00pm BST
The game in Cardiff is a rerun of last autumn’s Euro 2024 qualifier that ended Welsh hopes of automatic qualification. Masochists can relive the match by clicking below.
FULL TIME: Kazakhstan 0-0 Norway. The Premier League: the best league in the world! The Premier League: not as good as the Kazakhstan national football team! It’d long been suspected, but now conclusive proof is in. Erling Haaland has scored seven goals in his first three matches this season for Manchester City, but tonight the big man played all 90 minutes for Norway in Almaty yet didn’t get a single shot on target. QED. Ipswich Town and West Ham United want to have a long think.
6.45pm BST
Preamble
Today’s Nations League card looks like this …
A2 Belgium v Israel France v Italy
B3 Kazakhstan 0-0 Norway (FT) Slovenia v Austria
B4 Iceland v Montenegro Wales v Turkey
C2 Kosovo v Romania Lithuania 0-1 Cyprus (L)
… with all games kicking off at 7.45pm BST , except for the pair that clearly didn’t. News of what happened in those, plus the teams from the Wales game, is coming right up.
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