Norway and Austria both claimed crucial wins in the UEFA Nations League on Thursday evening, boosting their hopes of promotion to League A.
The league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League is nearing its conclusion, and two crunch matches took place in Group B3 on Thursday. First up, Austria went up against Kazakhstan and clinched a vital 2-0 win.
Borussia Dortmund midfielder Marcel Sabitzer did not feature for Ralf Rangnick's side, allowing him to get a breather after a gruelling few weeks of playing through the pain barrier. But even without their captain, Austria managed to pick up a comfortable win.
Two Bundesliga players were on target for Austria, with RB Leipzig's Christoph Baumgartner opening the scoring in the 15th minute before SC Freiburg's Michael Gregoritsch made it 2-0 ten minutes later.
Big win for Norway with Erling Haaland grabbing a goal and assist
Erling Haaland was in fine form for Norway and led them to a 4-1 win over Slovenia. RB Leipzig's Antonio Nusa scored a brace before Jens Petter Hauge made sure of the three points for Norway. Benjamin Šeško scored for Slovenia but wasn't able to steer them to victory.
Borussia Dortmund full-back Julian Ryerson played from the start for Norway, having recently recovered from a muscle injury. The versatile defender was used at left-back by head coach Ståle Solbakken.
With one matchday to go, Group B3 remains finely poised. Austria are sitting at the top of the group, level on points with second placed Norway. Slovenia are three points behind but remain in contention going into their matchday six clash against Austria. Norway will take on Kazakhstan on November 17, looking to pip Austria in the group.
The team at the top of each group in League B will earn automatic promotion to League A for the next edition of the UEFA Nations League, while the second placed teams will take part in the promotion play-offs.