UEFA

Olivier Giroud bagged a double as he showed his worth for France again to help the world champions beat Sweden 4-2 at home in the Nations League on Tuesday.

Giroud scored either side of Benjamin Pavard's first-half strike as Les Bleus recovered from Viktor Claesson's early opener. Sweden, who reduced the arrears through Robin Quaison before France's Kingsley Coman wrapped it up in stoppage time, were relegated into League B.

Spain forward Ferran Torres scored a first career hat-trick as his side crushed helpless Germany 6-0 at home on Tuesday to storm into the final four of the Nations League.

Goals from Alvaro Morata, Ferran and Rodri gave Luis Enrique's side a convincing 3-0 lead at halftime, while Ferran struck again early in the second half and completed his treble with a classy finish. Substitute Mikel Oyarzabal tapped in the sixth goal in the 89th minute to adorn an incredible Spain display and deepen four-time world champion Germany's misery.

Former Iran striker Ali Daei has said he would be honored to see Cristiano Ronaldo break his record for the most goals in international soccer as the Portugal forward moves closer to his tally of 109.

Ronaldo, the only other centurion in the men's international arena, has scored 102 goals in 168 appearances since his debut in 2003.

The World Cup finals in Russia feel a lot longer than two years ago, especially for an England team, beaten 2-0 by Belgium on Sunday, that have lost their way.

During their run to the semifinals in 2018, England seemed to have solved the long-standing puzzle of how find a way to inject the quality, tempo and excitement of Premier League football into the national team's style of play. Finally, Gareth Southgate had created a team where players were performing in the same manner, with the same intensity and positivity, that they showed with their clubs every week.

Norway will send a team to play Austria in their final Nations League group game on Wednesday despite the chaos that saw their match against Romania on Sunday cancelled following government intervention over a player's positive COVID-19 test.

The Norwegian players were on their way to the airport on Saturday to catch a chartered flight to Bucharest when authorities told them that such a journey would breach the country's stringent coronavirus measures because a player in the squad had tested positive.

Early goals by Youri Tielemans and Dries Mertens earned Belgium a comfortable 2-0 victory over England as they strengthened their grip on top spot in Nations League Group A2 in Leuven on Sunday.

England needed a win to put themselves back in the frame for a place in the Nations League finals, but Gareth Southgate's side found themselves chasing the game after Tielemans put the hosts in front after 10 minutes.

Así entraba el primero para Bélgica

Netherlands captain Georginio Wijnaldum scored two early goals to set them on their way to a 3-1 victory over Bosnia in their Nations League clash on Sunday, a first win for the Dutch under new coach Frank de Boer.

Wijnaldum, who has taken over as Dutch skipper from injured Liverpool teammate Virgil van Dijk, opened the scoring after six minutes and put the home side 2-0 up in the 13th at the Johan Cruijff Arena.

Wales assistant manager Robert Page said Gareth Bale is back in love with soccer, having rejoined Tottenham Hotspur following a tough period at Real Madrid, and that could help the forward shine for the national team.