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Here are seven things from Thursday's UEFA Nations League action that you might have missed.

The UEFA Nations League returned on Thursday, and there was a lot going on.

League A quarterfinals were held for the first time in the competition's history, with eight countries competing to advance to the summer final tournament. Leagues A through C also have promotion/relegation play-offs.

This is just the first half, as all ties are two-legged. That does not, however, imply that there was not any excitement.

Below are the top statistics and anecdotes from the evening.

Rasmus Hojlund leaves a lasting impression

This season, Rasmus Hojlund has been a lonely figure at Old Trafford. The Dane's future is currently uncertain because he simply hasn't been able to establish himself at Manchester United.

Hojlund has struggled with confidence and hasn't taken many shoots, which has led to his lack of goals. Across all competitions, he has scored eight goals with an average of just 1.57 shots per 90 minutes.


He has scored fewer goals in 2025. In 17 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions this season, the Dane has only managed one goal.

He has one goal in 21 minutes for Denmark in 2025. The Manchester United striker was substituted for Mika Biereth in the 69th minute after starting on the bench for Denmark against Portugal. Hojlund opened the scoring with what turned out to be the game-winning goal at Parken Stadium after just nine minutes. He will undoubtedly sense the affection.

Spain's biggest nightmare

Spain detests playing the Netherlands at the moment. Although it's only a nine-game streak, the reigning European champions haven't defeated the Netherlands in 90 minutes in forty-two years.

Spain might have been the favorite in the ninth game, which took place on Thursday night. However, Spain will never forget the suffering the Netherlands inflicted on them. There may have been a portion of them that still feared history even after Spain gained the lead.


Even though Spain scored a late equalizer, the Netherlands did rally from a goal deficit to take a 2-1 lead. With this second tie and four wins, the Netherlands is yet to lose at home against Spain. Jorrel Hato's late red card provided Spain the boost they needed to salvage the tie when it appeared they would win for the fifth time.

Lukaku puts an end to the drought

With 86 goals in 121 appearances for the Red Devils, Romelu Lukaku is currently Belgium's all-time leading scorer. That's a record that might never be surpassed, since it's a staggering 53 more than second-place Eden Hazard.

But lately, he hasn't had everything he wants for Belgium. The 31-year-old did not score in any of the four games he played at Euro 2024, and Belgium as a whole only managed two goals before losing in the round of 16.

Then Domenico Tedesco, who was attempting to start a new era for the Red Devils but obviously failing at it, left him out of Belgium's next two squads. Tedesco included Lukaku in his final Belgium squad, although he was ineffective against Italy in the Nations League.


With Rudi Garcia taking Tedesco's place, Belgium is entering a new era. And Lukaku had a purpose when he started it. This was about the occasion, but the goal itself was very typical—a nice header from a free kick by Kevin De Bruyne.

Belgium's best-ever goal scorer, Lukaku, has scored for the first time in six games, ending a lengthy drought. Unfortunately, the Red Devils' 3-1 loss to Ukraine in their promotion/relegation play-off meant that it was unable to arrest Belgium's rot.

Missed penalties for the evening

In the quarterfinals of the UEFA Nations League, penalty takers had a bad night.

You will inevitably be missed and given a penalty on any given football day. However, the fact that there were two in the four quarterfinals is noteworthy.

The first occurred inside the first ten minutes of Croatia's RESULT match against France. Ibrahima Konate's hand was injured by the ball inside the area while Croatia was attacking. It was a strange handball for Konate, who appeared to have reached for the ball out of instinct.


Andrej Kramaric took over, but his performance was poor. It lacked location and force, and Mike Maignan stopped his feeble attempt down the middle.

In their match against Portugal in Copenhagen, Denmark was also given a penalty for handball about fifteen minutes later. This time, it was Renato Veiga, who was looking to block a shot with his hand in an awkward position near to his head.

The guy on penalty duty, Christian Eriksen, had a decent strike, but Diogo Costa stopped him with a superb save low to his left.

An uncommon occasion for Tonali

Sandro Tonali is having a terrible week. First, he and Newcastle United win the Carabao Cup. He then scores a goal for Italy. The rarity of those two instances is about equal.

Tonali only scored his second goal in 22 senior Italy matches against Germany. From a different perspective, however, this might mark the beginning of a new era. since in his last three games for Italy, Tonali has also scored two goals.


The midfielder scored the lone goal in a 1-0 victory over Belgium in the UEFA Nations League group stage, ending Italy's goal drought. After an under-hit clearance by Jonathan Tah, he entered the area late to put the ball home in the ninth minute of the match against Germany. However, Tonali and Italy lost this match.

Scotland utilizing the second opportunity

Following their promotion last year, Scotland made their debut in the top division of the Nations League. Being the top-ranked British team was a source of pride, especially after rivals England were demoted.

However, they were placed with Portugal, Croatia, and Poland in a challenging group. With seven points from that group, Steve Clarke's team was one point away from the quarterfinals. Even though they finished three points ahead of Poland, they still had to compete for a League A position in the play-offs.


The opponents are Greece, who came in second place behind England in their League B group. They had just fallen short of England on head-to-head goal differential, having won five of their six games. They entered this match as favorites and might still believe they have a chance to win.

However, Scotland secured a significant victory when Scott McTominay scored the game's lone goal in Greek.

Ireland wins a rare away victory.

Speaking of victories on the road, Ireland had a great time in this infrequent triumph. Regardless of the management, the Boys in Green have had trouble traveling.

In their three away UEFA Nations League games previous season, Heimir Hallgrimsson's team only triumphed one, against Finland, who finished last in their group with no points. Despite only playing four games outside of Ireland in 2024, that was their sole away victory.


However, the dismal record goes back further than that. With goals from Finn Azaz and Matt Doherty, Ireland defeated Bulgaria on Thursday, their fourth away victory since the beginning of 2022. In June 2021, they defeated Andorra 1-4 on the road in a friendly match, marking the first time they have ever overcome a deficit to win.
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