Nations League matchday 1, Thursday: Gakpo rescues the Dutch in stoppage time, Haaland scores twice, and Greece win in Belgrade

The Nations League opened with eight matches, twenty-one goals and four of them scored in the ninetieth minute or later. Netherlands and Germany drew 1–1 in Amsterdam, Cody Gakpo equalising two minutes into stoppage time; Greece came from behind to win 2–1 in Belgrade with a goal four minutes into added time; Austria turned 1–1 into 3–1 against Israel with two goals after the ninetieth minute. Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway beat Denmark 3–2, Portugal beat Wales 1–0, and Kosovo beat the Republic of Ireland 1–0 in Pristina. Three of the seven winners were away from home.

The early kick-off

Andorra 1–2 Malta was the first match of the campaign, in League D, and Andorra led it. Guillaume Lopez scored on 17 minutes; Irvin Cardona equalised on 36 from Teddy Teuma's pass, and Teuma scored the winner on 81 from Cardona's. Ylyas Chouaref missed a penalty for Malta on 85, which did not matter. Both sides had thirteen shots; Malta put eight on target to Andorra's five.

The evening

Netherlands 1–1 Germany was one-sided in everything but the score. The Dutch had 22 shots, ten of them on target, and twelve corners; Germany had ten shots, two on target and one corner, and led from the 32nd minute, when Felix Nmecha scored from Karim Adeyemi's pass. Gakpo's equaliser came on 90+2, set up by Ruben van Bommel. It extends the Dutch run without a win over Germany to four matches.

Serbia 1–2 Greece started with Andrija Živković scoring on 4 minutes from Dušan Tadić's pass, and Serbia held that for seventy minutes. Greece had 61 per cent of the ball and 26 shots to nine; Christos Tzolis equalised on 74 from Vangelis Pavlidis, and Anastasios Douvikas scored the winner on 90+4 from Konstantinos Tsimikas's pass. Greece top League A, Group 2 after one round, with the Dutch and the Germans on a point each and Serbia on none.

Portugal 1–0 Wales was settled early. João Félix scored on 22 from Nuno Mendes's pass, and Portugal spent the rest of the night attacking: 61 per cent possession, 23 shots and ten corners. Wales had five shots and one on target. It was the first meeting since Euro 2016, and the same outcome: a Portugal win.

Norway 3–2 Denmark produced five goals and a red card. Oscar Bobb scored on 14 from Martin Ødegaard's pass and Haaland on 18 from Antonio Nusa's; Mikkel Damsgaard pulled one back on 25, and Rasmus Højlund equalised on 60. Haaland's second, on 74 from Ødegaard again, won it, and David Møller Wolfe was sent off on 90+3. Both sides had thirteen shots and seven on target. Denmark had won the previous three meetings.

Austria 3–1 Israel was 1–1 with a minute of normal time left. Romano Schmid's penalty on 43 put Austria ahead; Sayd Abu Farhi equalised on 55 and was sent off on 56. Against ten men Austria needed until the 90th minute, when Phillipp Mwene scored from Paul Wanner's pass, and Saša Kalajdžić added the third on 90+3 from Christoph Lang. Austria had nineteen shots and nine on target; Israel had five and one. The fixture's run of home wins is now five in a row since 2019.

Kosovo 1–0 Republic of Ireland was decided by Vedat Muriqi on 83 minutes. Kosovo had 22 shots and eight on target; Ireland had three shots, one on target and no corners at all.

Liechtenstein 0–2 Lithuania in League D was goalless at the break. Lukas Michelbrink scored on 53 from A. Kučys's pass and Artur Dolžnikov on 66 from Gvidas Gineitis's. Lithuania had 73 per cent of the ball and sixteen shots; Liechtenstein had four shots and none on target.

Numbers to know

• Twenty-one goals in eight matches, seven winners and one draw. Four home wins, three away wins.
• Four goals in the ninetieth minute or later: Gakpo on 90+2 in Amsterdam, Douvikas on 90+4 in Belgrade, Mwene on 90 and Kalajdžić on 90+3 in Linz.
• Two red cards, both late: Israel's Abu Farhi on 56, a minute after scoring, and Norway's Møller Wolfe on 90+3.
• Netherlands had 22 shots and twelve corners to Germany's ten and one, and drew. Greece had 26 shots to Serbia's nine, and needed until the fourth minute of stoppage time.
• Haaland's two goals are the only brace of the night. Ødegaard set up two; for Malta, Cardona and Teuma scored one each and set up the other.

Next up

Friday has eight more matches: Georgia v Northern Ireland and Armenia v Latvia at 16:00 UTC, then Türkiye v France, Italy v Belgium, Hungary v Ukraine, Poland v Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden v Romania and Montenegro v Cyprus at 18:45. The full round is on the Nations League page.