Nations League: Forrest treble earns Scotland promotion, Serbia also through

A hat-trick by in-form Scotland midfielder James Forrest earned them a 3-2 home win over Israel in the Nations League and promotion to the competition’s second tier on Tuesday.

The result, which also sealed Scotland’s Euro 2020 playoff berth if they fail to qualify automatically, left them top of Group 1 in League C on nine points from four games, three ahead of Israel and six in front of Albania.

Serbia also sealed their passage to League B with a 4-1 home win over Lithuania which clinched Group 4 with 14 points from six games, two more than Romania who won 1-0 in Montenegro.

Scotland fell behind to a sumptuous 25-metre strike by Israel’s Brighton & Hove Albion forward Beram Kayal before Forrest, who scored twice in Saturday’s 4-0 win at Albania, turned the match on its head with some clinical finishing.

The Celtic winger equalised in the 34th minute when he drilled home a rebound from 12 metres after Andy Robertson’s shot was blocked and fired the Scots ahead two minutes before halftime with a fine effort from inside the penalty area.

Ryan Fraser, who set up the second goal, turned provider again in the 64th minute as Forrest took a low pass in his stride, beat a defender and calmly side-footed the ball past Israel goalkeeper Ariel Harush.

Scotland were forced to hang on in the closing stages after Eran Zahavi pulled one back for the visitors with a thumping low shot from 20 metres and the home team’s keeper Allan McGregor did well to keep out a fierce Tomer Hemed shot in the dying minutes.

Serbia took a 2-0 lead over Lithuania when an Arturas Zulpa own goal and an Aleksandar Mitrovic header put them in command after a goalless first half.

Lithuania, however, reduced the arrears through Deimantas Petravicius.

Substitute Aleksandar Prijovic headed in Serbia’s third before Adem Ljajic rounded off a swift break to wrap up Serbia’s win on a chilly night at Partizan stadium.

Scotland and Serbia joined Norway and Finland, who had already sealed their passage to League B.

Milik's twice-taken penalty gives relegated Poland draw in Portugal

Poland forward Arkadiusz Milik scored from a twice-taken penalty to give his already-relegated side a 1-1 draw in Portugal in their final Nations League match on Tuesday.

Portugal, who had already qualified for next year's semi-finals as winners of Group A3, went ahead with Andre Silva's near-post header from a corner in the 34th minute, his 15th goal in 31 appearances for the European champions.

Yet the hosts gave away a penalty when midfielder Danilo tripped Milik as he burst into the area and was sent off. Milik's first effort from the spot was disallowed for encroachment, but he held his nerve to score again at the second attempt in the 66th minute. Portugal, without Cristiano Ronaldo who has not been selected since the World Cup, finished the group unbeaten with eight points from four games while Poland ended with two, both picked up away from home.

Sweden claim promotion with 2-0 win over Russia

Sweden's Victor LindelLeague of and Marcus Berg secured a 2-0 win over Russia on Tuesday and promotion from Nations League B Group 2 thanks to a better head-to-head record than the visitors.

Both teams finished on seven points but a scoreless draw in Russia and Tuesday's win in Stockholm propelled the Swedes into the top tier of the new competition as group winners.

Turkey were relegated to League C with three points following their 1-0 loss at home to Sweden on Saturday.

Defender Lindelof, named best player at Sweden's annual football awards last week, rattled home Mikael Lustig's knock-down from a corner to give his side the lead in the 41st minute.

Striker Marcus Berg, heavily criticised for his wasteful finishing during Sweden's remarkable run to the World Cup quarter-finals where they lost to England, extracted a measure of revenge by wrapping up the win with a tap-in in the 72nd.

As this year's World Cup hosts Russia chased the game and made a number of changes in attack, the Swedes lost forward Viktor Claesson to a twisted ankle but the central defensive pairing of Lindelof and Andreas Granqvist held firm.

Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen had little to do as the expected Russian onslaught failed to materialise, and Janne Andersson's side closed out the year with a vital win.

The Swedes will be in League A for the next Nations League campaign and have an extra chance to qualify for Euro 2020 via the playoffs if they need it. Russia will remain in League B.