IFFHS MEN'S CONTINENTAL NEWS - UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE
Picture : Adrien Rabiot is the first player to score a brace of headers with France in a competitive game since Zinédine Zidane against Brazil in the World Cup final on 12 July 1998.
Statistics on Nations League games of 17-19 November
*England achieved their biggest ever victory (5-0 over Republic of Ireland) in a match that was 0-0 at half-time.
*As many as 4 players (Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis) have scored their first England goal in the same game for the first time since October 1930 vs Northern Ireland (Harry Burgess, Jimmy Hampson, Sammy Crooks, Eric Houghton).
*France achieved their first ever away win over Italy (3-1) in a competitive game.
*France won each of their last 3 away matches against Italy: more wins than in the first such 14 (2 wins, 2 draws, 10 losses).
*France scored 3 goals from set-pieces in the same match for the first time since 30 March 1991 against Albania (also 3).
*Adrien Rabiot scored the French team's fastest away goal in competitive games (after 1 minute 59 seconds) since Patrick Battiston 40 years ago in Luxembourg (4-0, on 13 October 1984).
*Rabiot is the first player to score a brace of headers with France in a competitive game since Zinédine Zidane against Brazil in the World Cup final on 12 July 1998.
*Switzerland, after 2-3 loss to Spain, became the rival against whom Spain have achieved the most victories: 19, ahead of Portugal (18), France (17), Republic of Ireland (15).
*Spain are unbeaten in their last 20 competitive games (18 wins, 2 draws): their best run since a 29-match unbeaten run between June 2010 and June 2013 (24 wins, 5 draws), their best ever.
*Spain have not lost any of their 13 competitive matches in 2024 (12 wins, 1 draw), setting their national record for their most competitive matches without defeat in a single year, as well as for most wins in such matches (12).
*Spain have missed 7 of the last 12 penalties they have taken, not counting shootouts (now also Pedri vs Switzerland).
*Of the last 27 penalties that have been missed in matches of La Roja, 25 have been missed just by Spain and only 2 by rivals (Cardozo with Paraguay in 2010 and Petkovic with Croatia in 2024).
*Justin Kluivert has played for the Netherlands (1-1 vs Bosnia and Herzegovina) for the first time since more than 6 years ago (6 September 2018): the longest gap between two appearances since Pim Doesburg (almost 12 years, 1967 and 1979).
*The Netherlands have conceded 4 headed goals in 2024 (including the one from Ermedin Demirović in the named game): the most in a calendar year since 1992 (7).
*Liam Cullen is the first player to see his first 2 goals for Wales in the same game (4-1 vs Iceland) since Dean Saunders against Canada in May 1986.
*Viktor Gyökeres’s poker vs Azerbaijan (6-0) is the first Sweden’s poker overall since 11 November 2012 (Ibrahimovic, 4 goals in a friendly vs England) and the first in a competitive match 4 September 2004 (Ibrahimovic, 4 goals in a World Cup qualifier vs Malta).
*San Marino, in their historical game vs Liechtenstein (3-1 away), have done many things for the first time in their history:
won an away game,
won a game by more than one goal difference,
scored 3+ goals in a match,
came back to win from a losing position,
avoided defeat in 2 back-to-back games (with 1-1 vs Gibraltar in previous one).
*San Marino scored 7 goals in 2024 while their previous best annual scoring mark was just 3 goals.