Nations League roundup: Swiss stun Belgium with comeback to reach finals

Haris Seferovic scored a hat-trick as Switzerland recovered from conceding two early goals to beat World Cup semi-finalists Belgium 5-2 on Sunday and qualify for the last four of the Nations League in remarkable fashion.

Belgium, who suffered only their second competitive defeat since Euro 2016, threatened to overwhelm Switzerland when Thorgan Hazard scored twice in the first 17 minutes, the first from an awful mistake by Nico Elvedi in the second minute.

But the Swiss hit back to lead 3-2 at half-time with a penalty from Ricardo Rodriguez and two from Seferovic before Elvedi atoned for his mistake by heading them further in front in the 62nd minute and then Seferovic added a fifth.

The two sides finished level at the top of Group Two in League A – the top tier – with nine points and the Swiss qualified with the better head-to-head record after Belgium’s 2-1 win in Brussels.

Hazard, playing alongside his older brother Eden, fired a low shot past Yann Sommer from the edge of the area to make it 2-0.

The contest appeared to be over but Switzerland were handed a lifeline in the 26th minute when Kevin Mbabu went down in a congested goalline scramble and Rodriguez scored from the spot.

That completely changed the complexion of the game and five minutes later, Rodriguez lofted a high ball into the area towards Xherdan Shaqiri, who cushioned a header into the path of Seferovic to score from close range.

Incredibly, the Swiss went ahead one minute before the break with a goal that started with a Belgian corner. The Swiss cleared the ball, broke and found Edimilson Fernandes on the right where he pulled the ball back into the area for Seferovic to sweep the ball past Thibaut Courtois.

The hosts still needed another goal – they needed a two-goal margin by this stage – and it arrived in the 62nd minute as Shaqiri, who had an outstanding match, curled a low cross into the area and Elvedi made amends for his earlier howler with a glancing header. An unmarked Seferovic sealed the win by heading in Mbabu’s cross with six minutes left.

Austria, who already knew they would finish second in Group B3, beat relegated Northern Ireland 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Valentino Lazaro. Xaver Schlager’s opener just after the interval was cancelled out by Corry Evans only for substitute Marko Arnautovic to set up Lazaro’s winner in the third extra minute.

In Group D2 Belarus confirmed their promotion with a 2-0 win over San Marino with goals from Stanislav Dragun and Anton Saroka.

That rendered Luxembourg’s result irrelevant as they drew 1-1 in Moldova with Stefano Bensi cancelling out Radu Ginsari’s penalty for the hosts.

Promoted Finland lost 2-0 to Hungary in Budapest, with the other match in Group C2 seeing Greece lose 1-0 to already-relegated Estonia.

Nations League fixtures and results