Turkey to face Sweden in UEFA Nations League

ISTANBUL

The Turkish national football team will play against Sweden in UEFA Nations League on Nov. 17 in the Central Anatolian province of Konya, hoping to ensure not to be relegated from League B.

Currently Turkey sits in the second spot in League B, Group 2 with three points in three games in the group that also includes Russia and Sweden.

Unbeaten Russia leads the group with seven points, while winless Sweden has so far grabbed one point. Turkey and Russia have played three matches in the group, while Sweden played two.

If Turkey is defeated by Sweden, it will relegate to League C, but if its wins, remaining in League B will be secured for the home side.

The group winner will move up to League A, while the team at the bottom will move down to League C.

The UEFA Nations League is a new national team competition that replaces friendlies with competitive matches, allowing nations to play against equally ranked teams.

The 55 associations were split into four leagues according to their rankings. The group winners in Leagues B, C, and D get promoted, while teams that finish at the bottom of their groups in Leagues A, B, and C are relegated.

Turkey will also play against Ukraine in a friendly match at home in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya on Nov. 20.

Also on Nov. 17 in the Nations League, Portugal need a point to make the finals and Italy will have to shrug off the weight of history if it is to prevent Fernando Santos’s side taking it when the two countries clash at the Giuseppe Meazza in Milan.

The Azzurri are winless in five home matches for only the second time in their history, the last occurrence was between March 1923 and January 1925.

One thing that may work in coach Roberto Mancini’s favor is the element of surprise, considering Italy’s last 12 goals have all been scored by different players.

On Nov. 17, Crotia, which stınned Spain on Nov. 15, will travel to England.

Spain passed up the chance to seal progress to the Nations League finals as it was beaten 3-2 by Croatia, undone by a 93rd-minute winner from Tin Jedvaj.

Jedvaj’s late strike leaves Group 4 wide open ahead of its final fixture between England and Croatia. The victor will qualify, while Spain can still go through if the match at Wembley finishes in a draw.

Croatia was the deserving winner in Zagreb, where Jedvaj scored twice, his first international goals, to snatch a memorable victory at the end of a pulsating contest.

Andrej Kramaric had put Croatia ahead but twice Spain came back, as Dani Ceballos’ equalizer and Sergio Ramos’ penalty looked to have earned the visitors a point, before Jedvaj prodded in deep into injury-time.

Croatia will now head to London with a spring in its step while Spain is left to ponder back-to-back defeats under its new coach Luis Enrique, following a surprise loss with the same score at home to England last month.