Netherlands v Spain, Italy v Germany, Greece v Scotland, and more: Nations League – live

March 21, 2025
3:48 am

Key events

GOAL! Bulgaria 1-0 Ireland (Petkov 6)

Krastev, his back to goal on the edge of the Irish D, backheels cutely to Petkov, who threads a forensic first-time shot across the flat-footed Kelleher and into the bottom right.

4 min: Italy 0-0 Germany. The Germans on top in these early stages. A corner in from the right. A free kick in from the left. The Italian defence does what Italian defences have done for so long. Easy enough.

3 min: Netherlands 0-0 Spain. The Dutch respond through Gakpo, who has looked awfully unfit in Liverpool’s recent defeats to PSG and Newcastle, but appears a bit sharper already tonight. In from the left he zips, and aims a curler towards the top right. Always wide, always high.

2 min: Netherlands 0-0 Spain. The first shot on target in Rotterdam comes courtesy of Pedri, who slaps it straight at Verbruggen. An easy claim.

2 min: Greece 0-0 Scotland. … but they get the ball back and win a free kick out on the right. It’s swung in and half cleared, but when McGinn attempts to whistle the ball through a crowded box, the whistle goes for too much Caledonian pushing and shoving. A confident-enough start by the Scots, though.

And we’re off! Scotland kick off in Greece, and lose the ball within the first six seconds. Onwards and upwards.

Piraeus, Rotterdam, Milan, Plovdiv ~~… everybody’s talking about Pop Musik!~~ … the teams are out! Across Europe, we’ll be off once the anthems are done.

Heimir Hallgrímsson makes seven changes to the Irish starting XI after the 5-0 thumping at Wembley. Six of them are enforced: Liam Scales and Jayson Molumby are suspended, while Sammie Szmodics, Callum O’Dowda, Mark McGuinness and Festy Ebosele are injured. Evan Ferguson drops to the bench. In come: Mikey Johnston, Robbie Brady, Troy Parrott, Matt Doherty, Ryan Manning, Finn Azaz and Jason Knight.

Steve Clarke talks to BBC Scotland: “Come into the stadium and you’re buzzing already … was tempted to go to a back five but decided to stick with the four … the four over the group stage worked well … we created a little bit more … more midfield players on the pitch … it is a very quick start on a Thursday … the only time I had all the players on the pitch was on Wednesday just before we flew to Greece so we didn’t have a lot of time to change the system … so we stuck with what we worked on for the previous six games.”

Steve Clarke sticks to four at the back … by the looks of it, given how the returning Kieran Tierney is on the bench. There are just two changes to the team that started the dramatic 2-1 win in Poland last November: Lewis Ferguson and Che Adams step up with Ben Doak and Lyndon Dykes missing out altogether.

Greece v Scotland teams

Greece: Tzolakis, Rota, Mavropanos, Koulierakis, Tsimikas, Siopis, Mantalos, Masouras, Konstantelias, Tzolis, Ioannidis.
Subs: Vlachodimos, Mandas, Vagiannidis, Retsos, Zafeiris, Pelkas, Fountas, Pavlidis, Mouzakitis, Hatzidiakos, Karetsas, Giannoulis.

Scotland: Gordon, Ralston, Souttar, Hanley, Robertson, Gilmour, McLean, McGinn, McTominay, Ferguson, Adams.
Subs: Kelly, Slicker, Tierney, Conway, Wilson, Hendry, Porteous, McKenna, Nisbet, Hirst, Miller, Johnston.

Bulgaria v Rep. Ireland teams

Bulgaria: Mitov, Popov, Atanasov, Alex Petkov, Nurnberger, Despodov, Krastev, Gruev, Lukas Petkov, Andrian Kraev, Marin Petkov.
Subs: Sheytanov, Plamen Iliev, Antov, Kirilov, Nikolov, Bozhidar Kraev, Shopov, Nedyalkov, Simeon Petrov, Minkov, Panayotov, Ilian Iliev.

Republic of Ireland: Kelleher, Doherty, Collins, O’Shea, Manning, Knight, Cullen, Azaz, Johnston, Brady, Parrott.
Subs: Bazunu, Travers, O’Brien, Ferguson, Idah, Dunne, Sykes, Vata, Moran, Taylor, Armstrong, Abankwah.

The quarter-final teams

Croatia: Livakovic, Stanisic, Caleta-Car, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Modric, Kovacic, Perisic, Baturina, Kramaric, Budimir.
Subs: Kotarski, Ivusic, Pongracic, Moro, Mario Pasalic, Vlasic, Fruk, Jakic, Sosa, Ivanovic, Petar Sucic, Juranovic.
France: Maignan, Kounde, Konate, Saliba, Digne, Guendouzi, Tchouameni, Rabiot, Dembele, Muani, Mbappe.
Subs: Samba, Chevalier, Pavard, Upamecano, Camavinga, Doue, Olise, Kone, Zaire Emery, Barcola, Clauss, Hernandez.

Denmark: Schmeichel, Kristensen, Vestergaard, Andersen, Isaksen, Hjulmand, Eriksen, Norgaard, Maehle, Biereth, Lindstrom.
Subs: Hermansen, Jorgensen, Nelsson, Frendrup, Dorgu, Hojlund, Hogsberg, Skov Olsen, Wind, Harder, Froholdt.
Portugal: Costa, Dalot, Dias, Veiga, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Fernandes, Joao Neves, Pedro Neto, Ronaldo, Leao.
Subs: Jose Sa, Rui Silva, Nelson Semedo, Antonio Silva, Joao Palhinha, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, Inacio, Quenda, Ruben Neves, Trincao, Jota.

Italy: Donnarumma, Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori, Politano, Barella, Rovella, Tonali, Udogie, Kean, Raspadori.
Subs: Meret, Vicario, Buongiorno, Ricci, Maldini, Lucca, Frattesi, Ruggeri, Zaccagni, Casadei, Gatti, Bellanova.
Germany: Baumann, Kimmich, Tah, Rudiger, Raum, Gross, Goretzka, Sane, Musiala, Amiri, Burkardt.
Subs: Ortega, Nubel, Andrich, Stiller, Leweling, Undav, Adeyemi, Kleindienst, Mittelstadt, Schlotterbeck, Bisseck, Koch.

Netherlands: Verbruggen, Geertruida, van Hecke, van Dijk, Hato, de Jong, Reijnders, Frimpong, Kluivert, Gakpo, Depay.
Subs: Olij, Flekken, Simons, Koopmeiners, Brobbey, de Ligt, Taylor, Lang, Malen, Wieffer, Baas.
Spain: Simon, Porro, Le Normand, Cubarsi, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Zubimendi, Fabian, Yamal, Morata, Williams.
Subs: Raya, Remiro, Grimaldo, Merino, Perez, Olmo, Aghehowa, Mingueza, Huijsen, Garcia, Baena, Oyarzabal.