Nations League: ‘world’s worst team’ San Marino win again to earn promotion

You wait 140 games for a win, then two come along in two and a bit months. San Marino won 3-1 in Liechtenstein on Monday night to earn promotion into Nations League Group C, having secured their first victory since 2004 against the same opposition at home in September.

Second-half goals from Lorenzo Lazzari, Nicola Nanni and Alessandro Golinucci saw the tiny nation, who are officially Fifa’s lowest-ranked team in the world, claim their first-ever away win after Liechtenstein had taken a first-half lead through Aron Sele. It means that San Marino, which has a population of little more than 30,000, finish top of Group D1 with seven points, one above Gibraltar, while Liechtenstein end up bottom with two points after four games.

Northern Ireland saw a two-goal lead disappear in the space of three minutes but a 2-2 draw with Luxembourg was still enough for Michael O’Neill’s side to earn promotion as winners of Group C3.

Northern Ireland looked to be in control after Isaac Price, of Standard Liège, fired them ahead in the 19th minute. Liverpool’s Conor Bradley doubled the advantage early in the second half but Seid Korac got Luxembourg back into it in the 72nd minute and moments later Gerson Rodrigues fired in an equaliser. It set up a tense finish at the Stade de Luxembourg, but Northern Ireland hung on and the point, coupled with a 1-1 draw between Bulgaria and Belarus, saw them top the group by two points.

Romania will also step up to League B, topping their group after hammering Cyprus 4-1.

Croatia and Denmark qualified for the Nations League quarter-finals after both sides secured draws on Monday. Josko Gvardiol scored his first international goal in two years to rescue a point for Croatia against Portugal in Split. Portugal were already assured of top spot in Group A1 ahead of kick-off and left Cristiano Ronaldo out of their match-day squad.

View image in fullscreen Spain’s Bryan Zaragoza (right) celebrates his last-gasp match-winning penalty with Marc Casadó and Pablo Barrios. Photograph: Borja Suárez/Reuters

The visitors led thanks to a superb finish from Chelsea’s João Félix, who expertly controlled Vitinha’s fine pass and lashed the ball low into the net. Kristijan Jakic’s cross to the back post was perfect for Gvardiol to level from close range. Croatia finish in second place with eight points from their six games.

Denmark secured their spot with a 0-0 draw in Serbia, who missed out on the knockout rounds and had defender Strahinja Pavlovic sent off late in a game they dominated. Dusan Vlahovic missed a great chance to put Serbia ahead in the 80th minute, blazing his shot high when he really should have scored.

Croatia and Denmark join France, Italy, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal in the last eight, with the ties to be played between 20 and 23 March.

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A 93rd-minute penalty converted by Bryan Zaragoza secured Spain a 3-2 win over Switzerland in their final Group A4 game, with the Spaniards guaranteed top spot before kick-off and the Swiss already relegated.

Spain opened the scoring in the 32nd minute when Yeremy Pino fired home after Pedri had his penalty saved. The Swiss levelled through Joel Monteiro in the 63rd minute, but the hosts were back in front five minutes later when Bryan Gil netted.

Switzerland thought they had snatched a draw when Andi Zeqiri scored a penalty five minutes from time but another spot-kick in added time earned the Spanish side the win. The European champions finished with 16 points, while bottom side Switzerland ended with two points, having failed to win any of their six group games.

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