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The Nations League began its final round of games in thrilling fashion on Tuesday as Germany suffered their worst defeat in 66 years, coronavirus forced the postponement of a crucial relegation decider and minnows Gibraltar earned promotion just seven years after joining UEFA. 

Recap of an extraordinary day of football below...

Kovacic double is just enough for Croatia

Mateo Kovacic had gone over five years without an international goal but his brace tonight proved to be worth the wait as he helped Croatia retain their place among Europe's footballing elite.

The Chelsea midfielder showed striker's instincts to turn home Ivan Perisic's cross; having seen his first effort parried by Rui Patricio he was first to the rebound to score his first international goal since a 4-0 win over Gibraltar in June 2015.

Kovacic's first half goal seemed like it might be enough but a second yellow card for Marko Rog ratcheted up the pressure on the Croats, who conceded the equalizer in the very next passage of play. One of Cristiano Ronaldo's customary dipping free-kicks was parried back into the danger area by Dominic Livakovic, hooked back into the danger area and headed home by Ruben Dias.

Croatia could not hold on to parity for much longer as Joao Felix netted in controversial fashion. Croatia were convinced that the goal should have been disallowed when the ball deflected off Diogo Jota's arm and they may have had a case as the Liverpool forward brought the ball down to square for Felix.

However Kovacic had evidently got the taste for goals in a Croatia shirt and curled in a fine low shot from outside the box to draw his side level, a second goal that would prove to be a crucial buffer when Dias scored from a corner in the 90th minute. Ultimately Croatia would beat out Sweden to third place and survival by virtue of their superior goal difference, minus-seven to minus-eight.

Giroud finds form in France win

Olivier Giroud may be struggling for opportunities at Chelsea but yet again he rewarded the faith of Didier Deschamps as his 43rd and 44th goals for Les Bleus carried them to a 4-2 win over Sweden.

Victory over Croatia on Saturday had given Sweden hope that they could avoid relegation to League B and that only grew in the fourth minute when Viktor Claesson picked up Paul Pogba's half-clearance and skewed a low shot past Hugo Lloris. It did not take long for France to strike back as Marcus Thuram carried the hosts forward on a sweeping break that ended with Giroud finding plenty of space to rifle a left-footed drive into the bottom corner.

The world champions were ahead before the half was out. A twinkle-toed, pirouetting Thuram beat three defenders before his shot deflected into the path of Benjamin Pavard, whose outside of the boot volley was far beyond Robin Olsen.

France had already booked their place in October's finals but showed no sign of letting up with Deschamps unleashing Kylian Mbappe in the second half, the Paris Saint-Germain forward racing away to cross for Giroud to score another. Substitute Robin Quaison scored in the 88th minute to give Sweden late hope but they were not able to find the equalizer that would have seen them leapfrog Croatia in Group A3. 

Instead Sweden's late desperation would cost them. Goalkeeper Robin Olsen had joined the attack for Dejan Kulusevski's late free-kick but when the Juventus forward hit the first man it was left for Kingsley Coman to roll a fourth into an empty net.

Defeat for Sweden means they will drop into League B for the next Nations League, which begins in June 2022.

Spain crush Germany in outstanding win

Only victory would send Spain into the final four at their opponent's expense and victory was nothing less than Luis Enrique's side merited in Seville as they obliterated Germany 6-0. 

The addition of Alvaro Morata gave the hosts a central attacking presence that they had severely missed in the 1-1 draw with Switzerland, particularly when the Juventus striker was only being defended by Serge Gnabry at corners. He beat the Bayern Munich winger and Manuel Neuer to Fabian's corner to head La Furia Roja into the lead after 15 minutes.

It did not take long before the Spaniards had the game in the bag, a period of sustained pressure finally reflected on the scoresheet when Ferran Torres volleyed in the rebound from Dani Olmo's header. Neuer fumed moments later when Rodri rose above Manchester City team-mate Ilkay Gundogan to convert another Fabian corner. Never before had a German side been three goals down at half-time in a competitive match.

There was little respite for the visitors in the second half in Seville, Jose Gaya darting through the chasm where a Germany defence should have been to square for Torres. The Manchester City winger got his hat-trick in the 71st minute following yet more comical defending, the entire left flank left unoccupied as he curled into the bottom right corner, before Mikel Oyarzabal netted a sixth.

Victory came at a cost for Spain and their club sides as both Sergio Ramos and Sergio Canales were forced off with thigh injuries before the interval but it was doubtless Germany with greater cause to lick their wounds after their worst competitive defeat since 1954.

COVID puts pay to Switzerland-Ukraine

Six cases of COVID-19 in the Ukraine squad meant that their decisive game away to Switzerland in Group A4 has been postponed. Sergiy Kryvtsov, Junior Moraes, Dmytro Riznyk, Yevgen Makarenko, Eduard Sobol and Ruslan Malinovskyi had confirmed cases on Monday, prompting Swiss authorities to put the entire Ukrainian contingent into quarantine.

"The Ukrainian Football Association confirmed they have no other team, ie eligible players, able to play the match, either today or tomorrow," UEFA said in a statement. "The UEFA Nations League fixture between Switzerland and Ukraine, scheduled for today, Tuesday 17 November 2020, can therefore not take place.

"The matter will now be submitted to the UEFA control, ethics and disciplinary body for a decision to be taken in accordance with the special rules applicable to UEFA national team competition matches."

Switzerland needed victory against Ukraine in Lucerne to avoid relegation to League B.

Lower leagues

A thumping 4-0 win over Cyprus was enough to send Montenegro into League B as winners of Group C1 at the expense of Luxembourg, held 0-0 at home to Azerbaijan. The Cypriots had needed a win to stay in the third tier and will now drop into League D if they lose a playoff match.

Taking their place will be the Faroe Islands, who picked up the point they needed in Malta to top Group D1, and Gibraltar. The British overseas territory went unbeaten on their route to promotion and drew 1-1 with Liechtenstein in the Victoria Stadium.