Staff Reporter.
Wales secured promotion to League A after beating Iceland 4-1 at home in their final Nations League group match, having gone a goal down early on.
Their victory, alongside a 3-1 defeat for Turkiye away to Montenegro, means that Craig Bellamy’s side topped their group by a point.
“The feeling hasn’t quite sunk in yet, but it’s been a real positive camp Whatever the result of this game, it’s just been a positive camp,” said Bellamy after the match.
“The targets we set right from the start, I feel we’ve been able to achieve.”
Wales started the day knowing they needed to win and for results to go their way to top the group, but went a goal down after seven minutes after Andri Gudjohnsen followed up from a Danny Ward save.
It was the first goal Wales had conceded at home in 321 minutes and the first time they had been behind under Bellamy, but they responded well. The hosts managed to control the rest of the half, with Lewis Cullen scoring twice in the final 15 minutes of the first period.
The determination of his team to stick to the plan was something that pleased Bellamy immensely.
“There were one or two tests today that I feel we’ve been able to progress [through]. If they had happened one or two games ago, we might not have been able to.
“Where we’re at, you go 1-0 down in the first few minutes and you get a performance like that.
“Then after that, when the crowd get a little bit edgy and try to force things for us… No, no. We keep the ball because we believe that’s going to benefit us, and the players were able to do that.”
In the second half, Wales were able to dominate and bagged goals from Brennan Johnson and Harry Wilson to make things more comfortable.
“I thought we took control of the tempo of the game and we’re a good team if we’re able to do that,” said Bellamy.
On promotion itself, the Wales manager could not overstate the importance of being able to mix with the biggest teams in international football in Europe.
“For where we want to be and where we want to go, it’s huge. It’s so important for us,” he said.
Czechs reach League A
The Czech Republic qualified for the Nations League A after they beat Georgia 2-1 in a League B – Group B1 match in Olomouc.
Pavel Sulc and Adam Hlozek were the scorers for the Czech Republic. Georges Mikautadze scored a second-half goal for Georgia.
The Czech Republic won Group B1 with 11 points. Georgia finished the group in third spot with seven points as they will contest the relegation playoffs.
Ukraine won against Albania 2-1 in a Group B1 game in Tirana to increase their points to eight and finish second. Ukraine advanced to the promotion playoffs.
Albania had seven points in this group to be relegated to League C.
The knockout round playoff draw will be held on Nov. 22, and the relegation and promotion playoffs will be played on March 20-23, 2025.
Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain went through to Nations League A quarterfinals to be held on March 20-23, 2025. The semifinals will take place on June 4 and 5, and the 2025 final will name this season’s champions on June 8.
Founded in 2018, the Nations League has been won by Portugal (2019), France (2021) and Spain (2023).
The Czech Republic, England, Norway and Wales have been promoted to League A for the next edition of the Nations League.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Israel, Poland and Switzerland were relegated to League B.
Northern Ireland, North Macedonia and Sweden were promoted to League B. Meanwhile, Albania, Finland, Kazakhstan and Montenegro were relegated to League C.
Moldova and San Marino booked their places each in League C. But Azerbaijan and Lithuania were relegated to League D.