Erling Haaland scored twice as Norway edged Denmark in a five-goal thriller, while Greece came from behind to beat Serbia as the 2026/27 UEFA Nations League began on Thursday.
Eight opening-night fixtures were played across Leagues A, B and D, with Norway’s 3-2 victory over Denmark producing the most goals of the evening.
In League A Group 4, Norway beat Denmark 3-2 after a pulsating contest.
Oscar Bobb opened the scoring in the 14th minute before Haaland doubled Norway’s advantage just four minutes later. Mikkel Damsgaard cut Denmark’s deficit in the 25th minute and Rasmus Højlund levelled on the hour.
Haaland, however, had the final say, scoring his second in the 74th minute to secure all three points for Norway.
Portugal opened their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Wales, João Félix scoring the decisive goal in the 22nd minute. Portugal protected the advantage for the remainder of the game to secure an opening clean sheet.
In League A Group 2, Germany were denied victory by a stoppage-time equaliser in a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands.
Felix Nmecha put Germany ahead in the 32nd minute and the visitors looked set to leave Amsterdam with maximum points until Cody Gakpo struck in the second minute of added time.
There was even later drama as Greece came from behind to defeat Serbia 2-1.
Andrija Živković gave Serbia the perfect start after only four minutes, but Christos Tzolis equalised in the 74th. Anastasios Douvikas then struck four minutes into stoppage time to complete Greece’s comeback.
In League B Group 3, Austria beat Israel 3-1, although the contest remained tight until the closing minutes.
Romano Schmid gave Austria the lead in the 43rd minute before Saied Abu Farchi equalised in the 55th. Abu Farchi was then sent off after receiving a second yellow card moments later.
Austria made their numerical advantage count late on, with Phillipp Mwene scoring in the 90th minute and Sasa Kalajdzic adding a third three minutes into stoppage time.
Kosovo edged the Republic of Ireland 1-0, courtesy of Vedat Muriqi’s 83rd-minute header. The goal survived a VAR review and proved enough to give Kosovo three points and a clean sheet.
In League D Group 1, Malta came from behind to defeat Andorra 2-1. Guillaume Lopez fired Andorra ahead in the 17th minute, but Irvin Cardona equalised in the 36th before Teddy Teuma grabbed Malta’s winner in the 81st minute.
Lithuania also began with a 2-0 away victory over Liechtenstein in League D Group 2. After a goalless first half, Lukas Michelbrink broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute before Artur Dolznikov doubled the advantage in the 66th.
Across the eight UEFA Nations League fixtures, 19 goals were scored, with Norway-Denmark accounting for five. Haaland was the only player to score more than once on the opening night, while Portugal, Kosovo and Lithuania all recorded clean sheets.
