Key events
Red card for Ivan Perisic!
9.21pm: That’ll be Perisic’s last positive contribution to the game, because moments later he earns a second yellow card. He tries to argue that Cucurella dived, and there certainly seemed to be no malice in the challenge, but there was contact, it looked quite trippy to me, and a yellow it is. VAR checks the decision, but does not overturn it.
9.20pm: Talking of self-destruction, Spain have handed Croatia another brilliant chance! Zubimendi tries to find Cubarsi in his own penalty area but misses him, and Perisic blatters a shot goalwards, but it’s too close to Unai Simon!
9.18pm: A couple more substitutions for the Scots, who bring on Josh McPake and Findlay Curtis, taking off Christie and Gannon-Doak. They just need to go a few minutes without threatening to self-destruct and take it from there.
ShareGOAL! Scotland 1-2 Slovenia (Sturm, 71 mins)
Great movement on the right ends in Matko running clear, and he sends a low cross to Sturm who makes no mistake at the far post! Scotland have looked absolutely dismal since half-time and boos ring out after they fall behind!
9.14pm: Slovenia have a goal disallowed for offside! The ball is nodded on to Matko, who slides it under Gunn and into the net, but he was indeed behind the last defender as it was headed towards him. Still, Scotland are reeling here.
9.12pm: San Marino have scored an equaliser in Tirana! Lorenzo Lazzari with the goal!
9.10pm: A double change for Scotland. McBurnie and Welsh are going off, Hickey and Bowie are coming on.
9.05pm: Slovenia rip Scotland apart down the left again. This time Sturm rolls a pass along the edge of the Scottish penalty area, which two teammates are approaching unaccompanied, but Zabukovnik’s first-time shot isn’t great and hits a defender.
9.03pm: What a miss! Vipotnik is played into all sorts of space on Slovenia’s left, gallops into the area and, with only Gunn to beat, curls a shot well over the bar!
ShareGOAL! Croatia 1-1 Spain (Merino, 61 mins)
An equaliser also in Split! A weak clearing header drops to Olmo, who draws a couple of defenders and pushes to Merino, who sweeps it home from eight yards!
Mikel Merino of Spain scores his team’s equaliser. Photograph: Francesco Scaccianoce/Uefa/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.20 EDT
GOAL! Scotland 1-1 Slovenia (Matko, 57 mins)
From a Scotland throw-in, Slovenia score! A nice pass sends Matko running infield from the right and Luis Binks doesn’t get tight enough to stop him taking a shot but does get close enough to slightly deflect it when it comes, helping to take it past Gunn and into the bottom corner of the net!
Aljosa Matko of Slovenia (left) wheels away in celebration after scoring their equaliser, much to the chagrin of Scotland’s Luis Binks. Photograph: Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 16.08 EDT
9pm: Harry Kane has gone and scored yet another goal. England lead Czechia 3-0 and any moment now Scott Murray will tell you how it happened:
8.59pm: Slovenia’s David Sec is booked for giving McGinn’s shirt a healthy tug.
8.58pm: Spain appear to have received something of a rocket at the interval, and they come close again: Yamal’s lovely, dipping cross from the right zings into the area, Olmo throws himself at it, and he doesn’t quite get there.
8.56pm: Save! Gannon-Doak ignores McBurnie and instead passes to Christie, on the left of Slovenia’s penalty area, but the pass forces him a bit wide and Oblak makes a fairly routine save from the ensuing shot.
8.54pm: Yamal is played through by Spain, runs into the area, nudges the ball past the keeper and goes down theatrically in search of a penalty. He doesn’t get one, though, but he doesn’t get a yellow card either.
8.50pm: The Scotland game is also back under way, this one with no half-timely changes for either side.
8.47pm: Peeeep! Spain have kicked off the second half. Mikel Marino has come on at the break, with Alex Baena making way.
ShareHalf time: Scotland 1-0 Slovenia
The half-time whistle goes in Albania, where the referee went a bit big on stoppage time, and that’s the last of tonight’s games to reach the interval, with the half-timely scores looking like this:
League A, Group 3
Croatia 1-0 Spain
England 2-0 Czechia
League B, Group 1
Scotland 1-0 Slovenia
Switzerland 1-0 North Macedonia
League C, Group 1
Albania 1-0 San Marino
Belarus 1-0 Finland
League C, Group 3
Moldova 0-2 Slovakia
Kazakhstan v Faroe Islands was played earlier today and finished 2-2
League C, Group 4
Estonia 0-0 Iceland
Luxembourg 0-2 Bulgaria
ShareHalf time: Croatia 1-0 Spain
8.31pm: Seconds before half-time Spain slice Croatia open for the first time, but Yamal’s shot from wide of goal hits the side netting. And that’s pretty much that for a first half which has not gone as anyone was expecting: Spain have been very poor, Croatia have seriously upped their game, and the world champions are deservedly losing.
Cristiano Ronaldo has accused Portugal coach Jorge Jesus of twice breaking his word, saying a failed agreement to publicly explain his omission against Norway drove him out of the camp. This just in from Reuters:
In a lengthy statement, the 41-year-old gave his account of the dispute that prompted his departure from Copenhagen before Portugal’s Nations League match versus Denmark last week.
Ronaldo said Jesus had agreed a plan under which the forward would miss the Norway and Denmark matches to manage his fitness. However, on the day of the Norway game, the coach told him he would play for 30 minutes.
“Everyone knows the rest. I warmed up from halftime onwards, watched the minutes tick by and wasn’t called on,” Ronaldo said.
“The manager had broken his word to me.“
8.28pm: Spain give the ball away in their penalty area again, this time a poor clearance from Cubarsi, but the defender gets out quickly to block Perisic’s shot.
8.26pm: What a block! Vipotnik is played in for Slovenia, looks up and only Gunn is between him and goal. He picks his spot, sidefoots goalwards and, at that precise moment, Robertson appears from nowhere, sliding in from the far side of goal, and deflects the ball to safety!
8.23pm: Bulgaria have doubled their lead in Luxembourg, and are thus 2-0 up and make that the first Nations League game of the evening to feature more than a single goal (only Switzerland v North Macedonia has had no goals at all).
8.21pm: Oh Leicester, you were great once. Tonight, though, they’re 2-0 down to Stevenage in the EFL Trophy.
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ShareGOAL! Scotland 1-0 Slovenia (Christie, 30 mins)
We’ve had a shot on target now! A free-kick from the right is passed to Gannon-Doak, who chips a nice (slightly deflected) cross to the far post. Hendry heads into that post, McBurnie can’t quite get to the rebound, but Christie backheels it in from a yard!
Ryan Christie pops the ball into the net to give Scotland the lead. Photograph: Alan Rennie/ShutterstockChristie (centre) celebrates with his teammates after opening the scoring. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PAShare
Updated at 15.54 EDT
8.15pm: We still await a first shot on target in Glasgow. We have had a first yellow card, though: Janza has been booked for a foul on Gannon-Doak, as booky a booking as you’ll ever see.
8.10pm: Tottenham’s Mathys Tel has completed a hat-trick for France’s Under-21s against their Swiss counterparts. The French are currently 5-1 up.
8.08pm: Croatia have a chance of a second! Simon passes to Laporte inside the area, and the defender’s poor control gives it straight to an attacker, who squares to Matanovic, who turns and scuffs a shot that Simon saves.
8.07pm: 20-year-old winger Kristiyan Balov has put Bulgaria ahead in Luxembourg.
8.05pm: San Marino are not having a great time in Tirana: 18 minutes in and they haven’t had anything that Uefa’s statisticians classify as an “attack” while Albania have had eight, turned them into seven shots and they’ve now converted one of those, Asllani with the goal.
ShareGOAL! Croatia 1-0 Spain (Perisic, 17 mins)
Croatia take the lead, and it’s been coming! There’s a turnover in midfield which leads to a three-on-two break. Matanovic’s shot isn’t good enough to beat Unai Simon but it’s too good for him to hold it, and Perisic snaffles the rebound!
Ivan Perisic finds the net to give Croatia the lead. Photograph: Francesco Scaccianoce/Uefa/Getty ImagesCroatia’s Ivan Perisic celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates as Spain’s Marc Cucurella looks dejected. Photograph: Antonio Bronić/ReutersAs do his Spanish teammates. Photograph: Darko Bandić/APShare
Updated at 15.13 EDT
8pm: Goal-saving clearance from Scotland! Slovenia slice them open, Cerin’s shot beats Gunn, but it’s not very powerful and Hendry gets in the way.
7.59pm: Save! Unai Simon is called into action in Split, after Perisic’s left-wing cross picks out Stanislic, whose header was goalbound until Simon got in the way.
7.58pm: Slovenia have had the brighter start at Hampden Park, though they’ve done little with their handful of attacking opportunities. Scotland have just hacked a corner clear.
Updated at 14.58 EDT
7.54pm: The night’s second goal comes in Chisinau, where David Strelec has given Slovakia a 1-0 lead against Moldova in the eighth minute.
7.51pm: I am attempting to watch both Scotland v Slovenia and Croatia v Spain, the issue being that both involve a team in white shirts, shorts and socks playing another in dark blue shirt, shorts and socks. Anyway, a Slovenian attack is curtailed because of a push.
Updated at 14.55 EDT
7.48pm: Quite a nice move from the Scots end with McGinn having space to shoot from the edge of the area, but there was a defender in front of him and that’s what he hit.
ShareGOAL! Belarus 1-0 Finland (Shumanski, 1 min)
I was just noting that Belarus were the first team to kick off when they became the first team to score. It has taken VAR twice as long to confirm the goal as Belarus took after kick-off to score it.
Finland’s Juho Lahteenmaki (second right) and keeper Lucas Hradecky (right) react as Belarus’ players celebrate their goal scored by Artem Shumanski. Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 15.07 EDT
Peeeep! The first games have kicked off! They seem to be running a bit behind schedule in Scotland, mind.
Before kick-off, a presentation for Andy Robertson on the occasion of his 100th cap, with Steve Clarke, Alex McLeish and Gordon Strachan on hand to give him a framed shirt.
Scotland’s Andrew Robertson looks pleased with his award. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PAShare
Updated at 15.05 EDT
Sebastien Pocognoli has a chat ahead of Scotland’s game against Slovenia:
double quotation markIt’s a good team. They play as a collective block. It will be a good opposition today and we need to be ready and at our best. We’re trying to rotate. We expect if we are good on the ball to play against a low block. We need some creative players to play in between the lines and Ryan [Christie] had a good camp so far.
Don’t mind me, I’m just engrossed in the hunt for evidence of guano deposits in the area around Alnmouth, which is how BBC2 is treating anyone who’s turned on early for the Scotland game.
Russia v Nigeria submits an early claim to the game-of-the-day award: Nigeria 1-0 up after 10 minutes, Russia 3-1 up after 54, Akor Adams with an equaliser in the fourth minute of stoppage time, 3-3. Obviously I haven’t actually watched a single minute of the game and it might have been a terrifically dull six-goal non-thriller, but the scoreline reads very nicely.
Harry Kane is England’s starting line-up against Czechia, bringing him level with Peter Shilton on 125 caps for his country. Scott Murray is all over this one here:
ShareCroatia v Spain teams
It’s Rodri v Modri(c) in midfield as Spain make five changes to the team that beat Czechia and Croatia make four to the team that flunked against England.
Croatia: Livakovic; Stanisic, Sutalo, Vuskovic, Gvardiol; Modric, Jakic; Vlasic, Kovacic, Perisic; Matanovic. Subs: Pandur, Kotarski, Pongracic, Beljo, Kramaric, Budimir, Mario Pasalic, Baturina, Sucic, Marco Pasalic, Sucic, Misic.
Spain: Unai Simon; Marc Pubill, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella; Rodri, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Alex Baena; Mikel Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Martinez, Huijsen, Le Normand, Fresneda, Merino, Munoz, Roberto Fernandez, Fermin Lopez, Pino, Fran Garcia, Zubimendi.
Referee: Erik Lambrechts (Belgium)
ShareScotland v Slovenia teams
Jack Hendry and Ryan Christie come in, while Kieron Bowie drops to the bench and Scott McKenna is suspended:
Scotland: Gunn, Welsh, Hendry, Binks, Doak, McGinn, Ferguson, Gilmour, Robertson, Christie, McBurnie. Subs: Kelly, Bain, Hickey, Doig, Ure, Miller, McPake, Curtis, Graham, Bowie, Patterson, Montgomery.
Slovenia: Oblak, Brekalo, Bijol, Zec, Janza, Karnicnik, Cerin, Zabukovnik, Sturm, Matko, Vipotnik. Subs: Vidovsek, Vekic, Balkovec, Kuzmic, Urbancic, Lovric, Begic, Elsnik, Celar, Svetlin, Horvat, Drkusic.
Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez (Spain).
Spain can seal quarter-final qualification if they beat Croatia today (and if England don’t lose to the Czechs), a task that as England demonstrated over the weekend is probably within their capabilities. Here’s Luka Modric’s reaction to that defeat and hopes for tonight’s game:
double quotation markLosing isn’t the problem, but the way we lost is. I hope the fans will cheer us on as always and that, after the match, they can judge how we played. That’s what we need, so we’re hoping for a positive reaction because what happened hurts us more than anyone.
Spain is the best team in the world. They’re the champions. I don’t know how Spain is going to interpret our defeat … [but] what happened isn’t typical for our team, we all know that. Against the best team in the world, we have to fix everything, be aggressive, and not give them too much space to find solutions.
ShareHello world!
The Nations League is reaching the stage when decisions are made – indeed one could be made tonight, with Spain on the verge of joining their Iberian cousins Portugal in the quarter-finals, just one win for them and a lack of defeat for England away. So check out the league tables here and peruse tonight’s fixtures below – all of them 7.45pm starts unless otherwise advertised – and let’s crack on.
League A, Group 3
Croatia v Spain
England v Czechia
League B, Group 1
Scotland v Slovenia
Switzerland v North Macedonia
League C, Group 1
Albania v San Marino
Belarus v Finland
League C, Group 3
Moldova v Slovakia
Kazakhstan v Faroe Islands was played earlier today and finished 2-2
League C, Group 4
Estonia v Iceland
Luxembourg v Bularia
Bonus international friendlies
Russia v Nigeria (5pm)
Algeria v Niger (6pm)
Jordan v Venezuela (6pm)
Still want more?
Today’s Football Daily is, in an unexpected twist, about military service in South Korea.