Nations League: Germany Near QFs with Win Over Bosnia, 10-Man Dutch Hold Hungary

Deniz Undav netted twice as Germany secured a 2-1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday, moving closer to the Nations League quarter-finals, while the Netherlands salvaged a 1-1 draw in Hungary despite being down to 10 men.

Germany took the lead in Zenica when Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz provided a clever backheel assist for Undav to score after 30 minutes. Undav doubled the advantage by converting a cross from Maximilian Mittlestaedt. Bosnia pulled one back with 20 minutes to go, as 38-year-old Edin Dzeko headed in from a corner, marking his 67th international goal.

“After they scored, things got tense, but we stayed in control,” said Undav, making only his second start for Germany, in an interview with RTL. The win puts Germany on seven points from three matches, two ahead of the Netherlands. The two powerhouses will clash on Monday in Munich.

“We should have scored more, given the chances we created,” said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann.

Meanwhile, at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, a minute’s silence was observed in honor of Dutch football legend Johan Neeskens, who passed away at age 73. Hungary took the lead in the 32nd minute when Roland Sallai finished from close range after a pass from Zsolt Nagy, marking a great start for coach Marco Rossi in his 69th match in charge of Hungary.

The hosts looked set for a win, especially after Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk was sent off in the 79th minute. However, just four minutes later, Denzel Dumfries headed in a free-kick from Cody Gakpo to level the score.

“Even with ten men, we pushed forward,” said Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman. “I had a feeling we would score.”

Elsewhere, Wales threw away a 2-0 halftime lead to draw 2-2 with Iceland in Reykjavik. Tottenham’s Brennan Johnson, scoring in his seventh straight game, and Harry Wilson put Wales in control, but substitute Logi Tomasson struck twice in the second half, with his second goal coming after a blunder by Wales goalkeeper Danny Ward.

“I’m genuinely happy with this performance, despite the result,” said Wales coach Craig Bellamy. “We showed a lot of positives.”

In the same group, Turkey claimed a 1-0 win over Montenegro.

Meanwhile, Sweden saw a 2-0 lead slip away in a 2-2 draw with Slovakia in Bratislava, leaving both teams with seven points from three games, though Sweden leads on goal difference. Yasin Ayari and Ken Sema gave Sweden an early 2-0 advantage, but David Strelec’s brace helped Slovakia fight back for a point.

In other results, Tomas Chory scored twice as the Czech Republic secured a 2-0 home win over Albania. The Czechs are now level on six points with Georgia, who lost 1-0 to Ukraine after Mykhailo Mudryk’s decisive goal in the 35th minute.