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Undav double steers Germany to victory
Germany forward Deniz Undav scored two first-half goals in six minutes to guide them to a 2-1 victory over Bosnia on Friday and keep them top of their Nations League group.
The Germans, missing several players through injury, including Jamal Musiala, Niclas Fuellkrug and Aleksandar Pavlovic, were in control from the start but apart from a Pascal Gross shot off target had no clear chances against the disciplined hosts.
They had to wait until the half-hour mark to break the deadlock when Robert Andrich floated a cross for Florian Wirtz, who, with his back to the Bosnia goal, fed Undav for a first-time finish.
The VfB Stuttgart striker then doubled their advantage six minutes later, poking in a Maximilian Mittelstaedt cross.
The visitors should have scored more and put the ball in the net three more times only for the efforts to be ruled out for offside.
Bosnia, who hit the woodwork through Ermedin Demirovic, cut the deficit when Edin Dzeko scored with a header at the far post in the 70th minute to inject some late tension into the game but they could not get the equaliser.
"Overall I am satisfied with the performance," said Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann. "We did not allow too many counter-attacks. We maybe had too few goals for the dominance we had.
"But we had to see how much we want to go for a third goal, after conceding one, and having made some substitutions. And we also had to think about the game on Monday (against the Netherlands)."
Nagelsmann also said that midfielder Chris Fuehrich would not be available for Monday, having picked up a muscle injury after coming on as a substitute.
Germany top Group A3 on seven points from three games, with the Dutch in second place on five. Hungary are on two and Bosnia are in last place on one point.
Salah helps Egypt to victory
Mohamed Salah was on target to help Egypt maintain their 100%record in 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying with a comfortable 2-0 home win over Mauritania, but Tunisia slipped to a shock 1-0 home defeat to Comoros in their fixture on Friday.
Salah added to an opener from Trezeguet in Cairo as Egypt toiled for almost 70 minutes before they broke down the Mauritania defence to move six points clear at the top of Group C at the midway point of the qualifiers.
Tunisia were heavy favourites after starting their campaign with two wins, but despite 15 goal attempts fell to a lone strike from Rafiki Said just past the hour mark.
It was Tunisia's first home defeat in Cup of Nations qualifiers since 2010 but they remain on top of Group A with six points from three games. Comoros are behind them on five points.
The top two teams in each pool advance to the 24-team finals in Morocco next year.
Nigeria needed a late goal to seal a 1-0 home win over Libya as German-born midfielder Fisayo Dele-Bashiru netted four minutes from the end to spare the blushes of the 2023 finalists.
It was an important win for Nigeria who top Group D and are five points ahead of third-placed Rwanda with three games remaining.
Ivory Coast brushed aside Sierra Leone 4-1 in San Pedro as Franck Kessie scored a brace, both netting and missing a penalty. Nicolas Pepe was also on target as they made it three wins from three.
Sadio Mane and Nicolas Jackson were both on the scoresheet for Senegal as they beat 10-man Malawi 4-0 in Diamniadio. Senegal and Burkina Faso are each on seven points at the top of the pool and favourites to qualify.
Cameroon eased to a 4-1 victory over Kenya as Bryan Mbeumo took his Premier League form with Brentford onto the international stage with a goal, to go with a penalty from Vincent Aboubakar, a first international strike for Martin Hongla and a goal from Christian Bassogog.
South Africa recorded the joint second biggest win in their history as they thumped Congo 5-0 in Gqeberha to continue their good form under coach Hugo Broos. Victory over the same opponents in Brazzaville on Tuesday will see them qualify.
Teboho Mokoena netted a brace to go with goals from Bathusi Aubaas, Lyle Foster and Iqraam Rayners.
Bevis Mugabi scored the only goal as group leaders Uganda beat South Sudan 1-0 in the other fixture in the pool.
There were also wins for Equatorial Guinea, Benin, Angola and Mali, but Avram Grant’s Zambia were held to a surprise 0-0 draw at home by Chad that leaves them in second place with four points from a possible nine in their pool.
Dumfries rescues Dutch against Hungary
Denzel Dumfries headed a late equaliser for the Netherlands to rescue a point in a frustrating 1-1 Nations League Group A3 draw with Hungary in Budapest on Friday, where the visitors finished with 10 men after captain Virgil van Dijk was sent off.
Hungary led in the 32nd minute when Tijjani Reijnders lost possession in midfield and Zsolt Nagy's cross to the back post was volleyed into the net by Roland Sallai, who had been an injury doubt before kick-off.
The Dutch created numerous chances, but looked to be heading for defeat, their night made worse when Van Dijk received two yellow cards in the space of three minutes before Dumfries headed in Cody Gakpo's free kick to equalise.
Germany lead the Group A3 table at the halfway mark with seven points from their three games, followed by the Netherlands on five. Hungary (two points) and Bosnia (one) are dropping out of contention for top spot.
"It was frustrating because Hungary kept structured and played in transition," Dumfries told reporters. "When they went 1-0 ahead, you knew they will hang back even more. In the second half we recovered well. I think 1-1 is fair."
Dumfries, who finished the game wearing Van Dijk's captain's armband, praised the players for their fight.
"It was fantastic how we did that. Compliments to the team for how we held our ground. That's how you ultimately become successful," he said.
Hungary had been hoping for a first win over the Netherlands in 40 years, but did at least end a run of nine straight defeats against the Dutch.
It was a game of possession for the visitors with Hungary trying to hit them on the break, which they managed to do for Sallai’s expertly finished opener.
Before that he struck the post having been fed on the edge of the box by Dominik Szoboszlai, with Sallai curling his effort against the woodwork.
The Netherlands had over 80% possession in the first half but did not create all that much in the way of chances, though Cody Gakpo forced a good low save from Hungary goalkeeper Denes Dibusz.
The second half followed the same pattern as the first as the home side sat back.
Reijnders had only Dibusz to beat but delayed his shot and forced himself wide with a heavy touch to spurn the chance, before he chose to shoot when a ball across goal to Dumfries would have left the latter with a tap-in at the back post.
With the Dutch growing in frustration, Van Dijk was yellow-carded for dissent before a second booking for a foul left the visitors with 10 men for the final 11 minutes and the centre back out of Monday's trip to Germany.
"As captain I am allowed to talk to the referee and I did it in a respectful way," Van Dijk told NOS. "With the second one, I gave the referee a reason to give a yellow card."
