Wales relegated and France flop as Virgil van Dijk secures Netherlands win

Virgil van Dijk scored a late winner against Belgium on Sunday to secure the Netherlands' spot at next June's Nations League finals.

The Liverpool defender nodded home in the 73rd minute to secure a 1-0 win in Amsterdam. The Netherlands will be joined in the four-team tournament by Croatia, who scored twice in the second-half to confirm a 3-1 win against Austria in Vienna on Sunday.

Austria's Christoph Baumgartner cancelled out Luka Modric's early opener for the visitors before Marko Livaja and Dejan Lovren struck to ensure Croatia finished top of Group A1. Their win spared France's blushes, as they would've been relegated had Austria won.

The defending champions were defeated 2-0 by Denmark in Copenhagen on Sunday thanks to goals from Kasper Dolberg and Andreas Skov Olsen. The other two finalists will be determined after Monday's and Tuesday's fixtures. Here is rest of Sunday's action...

Wales 0-1 Poland

By James Nursey

Robert Lewandowski showed his class on Sunday night, as he helped condemn Wales to relegation in the Nations League.

Wales were given a rousing send-off in Cardiff in their final game before their first World Cup since 1958, but Poland ripped up the script to leave Wales without a win in five games for the first time since June 2017. It meant Robert Page's side finished bottom of Group A4 and will drop into the second tier.

Barcelona ace Lewandowksi didn't add to his 76 international goals, but he did produce a sublime pass to assist Karol Swiderski in the 57th minute. Wales gave a start to their own talisman Gareth Bale, but he was denied by the woodwork late on for the hosts, who went down 2-1 in Belgium four days earlier.

Wales tried everything to tee up a special night in front of their own fans, but too often their final ball was poor - especially in the last third. Before kick-off, Michael Sheen's inspirational speech for Wales from 'A League of their Own' was shown on the big screen.

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Wales needed all the help they could get without the injured quartet of Ben Davies, Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey and Harry Wilson - while Chris Mepham and Ethan Ampadu also missed the match at the Cardiff City Stadium through suspension.

Poland were also preparing for the World Cup where they will face Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Mexico. The visitors were solid rather than spectacular, as they had their first effort on target in the 25th minute when Lewandowski tested Wayne Hennessey from a free-kick. Lewandowski is Poland's record scorer but this effort was easy for Hennessey.

Wales threatened in the 32nd minute when Dan James broke free, but Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny saved with his legs. The hosts also had a chance when Connor Roberts found Bale in the box from a throw-in, but the striker's angled effort was saved.

At the other end, Hennessey was also called into action to stop a Piotr Zielinkski effort. But the closest the visitors came to scoring in the first half was when Hennessey miss-controlled Joe Rodon's backpass and the keeper had to make a goal-line clearance.

For Wales, Brennan Johnson - who has cemented his place in the team this campaign - had a shot deflected wide from the top of the box as the game opened up.

Poland took the lead after a brilliant flick by Lewandowski unlocked the home defence for Swiderski to fire in under Hennessey's legs. Wales tried to hit back quickly as Johnson almost curled in a low left-foot shot which Szczesny pushed past the post.

Boss Page threw on giant target man Kieffer Moore and Bale dropped into a deeper role where he had more influence. It enabled Bale to get on the ball more and release Wales' wide men. Szczesny also had to dramatically push James' curling cross around the post.

But the visitors held out as Bale saw a late header hit the bar. Wales' biggest plus was at least LAFC forward Bale, 33 - who had not lasted an entire match for club or country since their goalless draw with Estonia in September 2021 - completed 90 minutes.

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