World champions France and Germany rode on the influence of their Chelsea stars to rack up Nations League wins on Saturday while Spain’s Sergio Ramos missed two penalties on the night he celebrated a record-setting 177th international appearance.
Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante scored just his second international goal as France defeated European champion Portugal 1-0 in Lisbon to secure a place in next year’s Nations League finals.
Kante was quickest to react to a rebound as he netted the winner on 53 minutes that clinched France top spot in its group.
France lead Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal by three points ahead of Tuesday’s clash with Sweden in Paris but is guaranteed first place by virtue of its superior head-to-head record.
Kante’s teammate at the English Premier League side Timo Werner scored twice on his return to Leipzig as Germany enjoyed a 3-1 win over Ukraine.
The win leaves Germany undefeated in its last 12 games and top of its group, a point ahead of second-placed Spain with the sides due to meet in Sevilla on Tuesday.
Late equaliser
In Basel, Ramos missed two penalties as Spain needed a late equaliser from Gerard Moreno to draw 1-1 with Switzerland.
Ramos was making his 177th appearance to break the international appearances record for a European player, pulling clear of Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon, who has 176. But it was a night to forget for the defender, who saw one spot-kick saved by Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer but backed himself to score a second, only to miss again with a dreadful attempted ‘Panenka’.
The results:
League A: Group 3: Sweden 2 (Kulusevski 36, Danielson 45+2) bt Croatia 1 (Danielson 82-og); Portugal 0 lost to France 1 (Kante 53).
Group 4: Switzerland 1 (Freuler 26) drew wit Spain 1 (Gerard Moreno 89); Germany 3 (Sane 23, Werner 33, 64) bt Ukraine 1 (Yaremchuk 12).
League C: Group 1: Cyprus 2 (Kastanos 34-pen, 71) bt Luxembourg 1 (Kousoulos 5-og); Azerbaijan 0 drew with Montenegro 0.
League D: Group 1: Malta 3 (Emili Garcia 56-og, Degabriele 59, Dimech 90+3) bt Andorra 1 (Rebes 3); Latvia 1 (Kamess 59) drew with Faroe Islands 1 (G Vatnhamar 60).
Group 2: San Marino 0 drew with Gibraltar 0.
