Nations League PIX: France, England win; Israel upset Belgium

Images from the Nations League football matches played on Sunday.

France secure top spot with win over Italy

Adrien Rabiot and Lucas Digne combined perfectly to celebrate their 50th international caps to give France a 3-1 away win against Italy in the Nations League Group A2 decider as they finished top of the table on Sunday.

Rabiot grabbed a brace after being set up twice by Digne, whose screamer of a free kick was deflected into his own goal by Guglielmo Vicario while Italy scored through Andrea Cambiaso.

The result put France on 13 points at the end of the group phase, ahead of Italy on goal difference after the Azzurri had prevailed 3-1 at the Parc des Princes in September.

Israel claimed their only win in the group as they beat Belgium 1-0 in Budapest to finish level on points with the Red Devils, but last due to their worse head-to-head record.

"We had a young squad, I wanted to see a lot of players and winning here against an Italian team who were full of confidence is a great performance," said coach Didier Deschamps.

Keeper Mike Maignan added: "We wanted to win, we were out for revenge. It was about pride after losing at home against them."

After a lacklustre goalless draw against Israel at home on Thursday, Deschamps's side showed their resilience in the absence of captain Kylian Mbappe, who was omitted from the squad.

France got off to a dream start when Rabiot netted his fifth international goal by smashing a header home after two minutes from Digne's corner.

Italy upped the pace but Digne's splendid left-footed 27-metre free kick bounced off the bar and onto Vicario's back for France's second in the 33rd.

Two minutes later, however, the Azzurri reduced the arrears after pressing hard, with Cambiaso finding the back of the net with a volley from Federico Dimarco's cutback.

Christopher Nkunku forced Vicario into a low save in the 59th minute as the visitors pressed for a third at a packed San Siro.

Digne and Rabiot were at it again as the fullback delivered a pinpoint free kick for the former Juventus midfielder to head home again and restore a two-goal lead.

Les Bleus then contained their opponents to ensure they will avoid Portugal, Germany and Spain in the last eight.

"It had been a long time since we had played such a game. Our goal was to win by two goals. The aggressiveness, the team spirit were great," said Rabiot.

England thrash Ireland with second-half goal rush

England secured promotion back to the top tier of the Nations League with a 5-0 romp over 10-man Ireland in interim manager Lee Carsley's last game in charge at Wembley on Sunday.

After a turgid first half, Harry Kane's penalty, Anthony Gordon's volley and a tap-in by Conor Gallagher in the space of five minutes at the start of the second broke Ireland's resolve.

Jarrod Bowen made it 4-0 with a crisp shot from the edge of the area, his first touch after coming off the bench, before debutant Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed England's fifth.

Ireland played virtually the whole of the second half with 10 men after Liam Scales was sent off for a foul on Jude Bellingham that resulted in England's penalty.

England finished top of Group B2 with 15 points from six games, the same as Greece but with a superior goal difference in the two games between the two nations.

Carsley will now hand over the reins to Thomas Tuchel having won five of his six games in charge and with some useful pointers for the German who takes charge in January.

"It was a great evening for a lot of players and the main thing was getting promotion," Carsley said.

"I enjoyed watching the lads, to play with the aggression and intent that they played with."

While it was no surprise to see captain Kane on the scoresheet for his 69th England goal, the four other scorers all notched their first senior international goals -- the first time that had happened for England since 1930.

With a long list of regular starters unavailable, Carsley also gave a first cap to Newcastle United fullback Tino Livramento and a first start to his club team mate Lewis Hall while Southampton's Harwood-Bellis celebrated his first senior cap with a goal.

"A really important win for us. It has been a really good camp and two tough games," Kane said. "We got the job done in Greece and again here. It was a tough first half but we came out with more energy and we finished it off.

"Thomas (Tuchel) has a lot of players to choose from. A lot of young players that have come in and done well and some more experienced players that are injured and will be looking to come back so there's a good balance."

England gave a large early Sunday evening crowd nothing to get excited about in a tedious first half in which Ireland were well-organised and neither side managed an effort on target.

But the floodgates opened when Kane's superb pass found Bellingham in the area and as he tried to cut inside Scales, the Celtic defender hacked him down to concede a penalty and earn himself a second yellow card and Kane tucked away the spot kick.

Ireland then collapsed. Gordon steered in a volley to double the home side's advantage and Gallagher prodded in after a corner was flicked on.

Bowen's clinical first-time finish and Harwood-Bellis's header made sure Carsley's brief era ended on a real high.

Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson said his side had 'lost their heads' in the second half.

"We kind of just gave up. Easy to stand outside and criticise the players but it was a crazy moment that killed everything," he said. "All of a sudden it's 3-0 against a good team and there's no way out."

Last-gasp goal helps Israel upset Belgium

Israel debutant Yarden Shua scored an 86th-minute winner as they upset more fancied Belgium 1-0 in Budapest on Sunday, but it was not enough for them to avoid relegation from the Nations League's top tier.

Shua, who had come on as a second-half substitute, took advantage of a defensive mistake from Matte Smets to earn Israel their first win in Group A2, moving them level on four points with third-placed Belgium in the final standings.

Belgium, however, avoided finishing bottom due to a better head-to-head record after beating Israel 3-1 in September.

The result will heap more pressure onto beleaguered Belgian coach Domenico Tedesco while Israel will be delighted with four points from their last two matches after holding France to a goalless draw in Paris on Thursday.

Shua’s goal came after Smets, who was also on as a substitute for his first cap, fluffed a pass across the face of his own penalty area that was pounced upon by Dia Saba. While his effort was blocked, the 25-year-old Shua snapped up the loose ball to fire home.

Israel struck the woodwork twice in the first half and will feel they merited the win for their dogged showing, even if Belgium dominated possession at a fog-filled Bozsik Arena in the Hungarian capital, where Israel have hosted all their Nations League matches because of the security situation in their country.

Belgium finished the group with a single victory and have won twice in their last 10 outings. It is a sequence of results that has seen Tedesco’s future as Belgium coach come under scrutiny.

They fielded a team on Sunday stripped of many of their top players, with injury ruling out top scorer Romelu Lukaku and Premier League midfielders Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans while Kevin De Bruyne was given time off from the team.

Their injury woes continued when Leandro Trossard hobbled out of Sunday’s match in the first half.

Belgium dominated the early exchanges but were afforded little room to manoeuvre by a strong Israeli defence.

Israel did not get their first chance until midway through the first half but when it did arrive, they were unlucky not to take the lead.

Captain Eli Dasa hit Manor Solomon’s pass on the half volley and saw his rasping effort rebound back into play off the post.

A minute before the break Din David hit the crossbar from a tight angle with a powerful shot as Israel served notice of their potential to grab the win.