The World Cup is less than two months away, and international teams have played their final matches before the tournament.
For some heavyweights like France and England, the final fixtures exposed serious problems – and there’s not much time to fix them before Qatar.
For other sides like Netherlands and Croatia, their development towards the World Cup is going swimmingly.
Here’s the latest from around the world in the latest edition of the World Cup Watch!
Watch the world’s best footballers every week with beIN SPORTS on Kayo. LIVE coverage from Bundesliga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Carabao Cup, EFL & SPFL. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
STAR’S STINKER SAVED BY 16 MINUTES OF MADNESS
England will head to the World Cup on a six-game winless run, but eased some of the pressure on manager Gareth Southgate by fighting back from 2-0 down to salvage a 3-3 draw against Germany on Monday.
The Three Lions had already been relegated from the top tier of the Nations League and the knives were out for Southgate after his faith in Harry Maguire backfired for two German goals early in the second half.
Maguire has been publicly backed by the England boss despite being dropped at club level by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag.
Ilkay Gundogan slotted home the opener from the penalty spot after Maguire had gifted possession to Jamal Musiala and then chopped down the Bayern Munich midfielder.
Kai Havertz then curled brilliantly into the top corner after Maguire was dispossessed in the German half.
England had failed to score from open play in any of their opening five games in Group A3.
But two goals in three minutes completely changed the atmosphere around Wembley and the scrutiny on Southgate’s position heading to Qatar.
Luke Shaw was also restored to the starting line-up despite his lack of game time at Manchester United and started the fightback by volleying in at the back post.
Moments later, two of Southgate’s substitutes combined to deadly effect as Bukayo Saka set up Mason Mount to curl home.
Harry Kane looked to have completed the turnaround from the penalty spot seven minutes from time after Nico Schlotterbeck’s challenge on Jude Bellingham was punished following a VAR review.
Yet, there was more drama to come as Nick Pope spilled Serge Gnabry’s shot and Havertz pounced on the rebound to snatch Germany a point.
MORE COVERAGE
Talking Pts: Bold call sums up Socceroos coach perfectly; starlet delivers ‘what we’re craving’
Socceroos Player Ratings: All six debutants impress as teen star makes massive World Cup statement
Cult hero Cummings scores on debut as Kuol delivers in dazzling 18-minute Socceroos cameo
FRANCE COP ‘REALITY CHECK’
France’s difficult preparations ahead of their World Cup title defence narrowly avoided disaster, but a 2-0 defeat in Denmark delivered a horrible reflection of how far the team must improve for Qatar.
Les Bleus lost 2-0 to finish with just one win from their six group games, but Croatia’s 3-1 win at Austria saved the world champions from being relegated to the second tier of the Nations League.
Didier Deschamps will be hoping to have a number of key men back from injury by the time France’s defence of the World Cup begins against Australia on November 22.
“It was a young French team, which for the most part does not yet have experience of the highest level,” said Deschamps.
“Tonight is a dose of reality and what will be waiting for us in two months.”
France will also come up against the Danes in the group stage in Qatar and the Euro 2020 semi-finalists showed they are more than capable of causing more trouble in two months’ time, especially with Christian Eriksen running the show so wonderfully.
Both goals came before half-time as Kasper Dolberg stretched to turn home Mikkel Damsgaard’s cross before Andreas Skov Olsen volleyed in from the edge of the area.
France were without Hugo Lloris, Jules Kounde, N’Golo Kante, Paul Pogba, Ousmane Dembele and Karim Benzema through injury.
But the star trio of Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud and Kylian Mbappe failed to find a way back into the game for France.
“It was a young French team, which for the most part does not yet have experience of the highest level,” said Deschamps.
“Tonight is a dose of reality and what will be waiting for us in two months.”
He added: “Yesterday, I was watching other games. There are other big teams losing as well. We shouldn’t think of ourselves as better than them. We are going to have to fight.”
ENGLAND COACH UNDER DARK CLOUD
Gareth Southgate said on Sunday he knew he would suffer stinging criticism at some stage of his tenure as England manager, but he remains confident the Three Lions will turn their form around in time for the World Cup.
England have been relegated from the top tier of the Nations League after failing to win any of their first five games in Group A3.
Southgate was booed by the travelling support after a 1-0 loss to Italy in Milan on Friday, which stretched England’s run without scoring from open play to 495 minutes.
“With the national team that noise is going to be even louder, and more widespread and I totally understand that, I’m not hiding from that,” Southgate said at his pre-match press conference ahead of Germany’s trip to Wembley on Monday.
“It’s a situation that we aren’t enjoying, not winning football matches. But we have to keep doing the right things every day, to keep improving small bits of our performances that can make a difference.
“If we approach every day in that manner and keep the standards high, and performances come, then eventually results will turn.”
“What happens to me is irrelevant, frankly. It’s about the team. The most important thing is the team and the success of the team.”
DUTCH MAKE TITLE STATEMENT
The Netherlands made sure of top spot in Group A4 with a 1-0 win over Belgium thanks to Virgil van Dijk’s header 17 minutes from time.
The Dutch just needed to avoid defeat by a three-goal margin after winning 4-1 in Brussels earlier in the group.
A Belgian revival never looked likely and van Dijk settled the game when he was left completely unmarked to head in a corner inside the six-yard box.
The result extended Netherlands’ unbeaten run to 15 games (11 wins, four draws) since Louis Van Gaal was reappointed to the position for the third time in August last year.
WALES PAY THE PRICE FOR WC SPOT – BUT WON’T COMPLAIN
Wales manager Rob Page said relegation from the top tier of the Nations League on Sunday is softened by the prospect of looking forward to his country’s first World Cup since 1958 in two months’ time.
A 1-0 defeat to Poland in Cardiff condemned Page’s men to finishing bottom of a group also containing Belgium and the Netherlands.
Wales’ four Nations League games in June were split either side of a vital World Cup qualifying playoff against Ukraine, which forced Page to rest a number of key players for their 2-1 defeat in Poland to start the group.
Despite the disappointment of dropping down a division, the Wales boss was happy to pay that price for having made it to Qatar.
“If you had said to me at the start of June that we would qualify for the World Cup and have it go down to one game to win to stay in League A, I would have taken that,” said Page. “The playoff final against Ukraine did have an impact on our games either side of it.” Page’s most pressing concern is recovering some of his best players in time for their opening game of the World Cup against the United States on November 21.
Aaron Ramsey, Ben Davies and Joe Allen missed both the defeats, to Poland and to Belgium, on Thursday, due to injury.
“For us to compete at the top, top level we’re going to need every player fit and available and playing well,” added Page. “That’s nothing against the rest of the squad — they’re brilliant, to a man — but we need our best players on the pitch.” Gareth Bale was recalled to the starting line-up and lasted the full 96 minutes in a boost for Wales as his fitness is managed in the lead up to Qatar.
MASSIVE UPSET STUNS TURKS
Turkey were already guaranteed promotion from League C, but were still embarrassed by a 2-1 defeat to the Faroe Islands. The Faroes led 2-0 through Viljormur Davidsen and Joan Edmundsson before Serdar Gurler’s late consolation for the side ranked 83 places higher in FIFA’s world rankings.
