Maguire off on bad night for England in Nations League, Mbappe gets France winner

England’s prospects of returning to the finals of the Nations League suffered a big hit as Gareth Southgate’s side lost 1-0 at home to Denmark on Wednesday, while Kylian Mbappe gave World Cup holders France a 2-1 victory in Croatia and Portugal won without Cristiano Ronaldo.

Harry Maguire was sent off for England in the first half at Wembley for two clumsy yellow cards, and Christian Eriksen then converted a 35th-minute penalty on the occasion of his 100th cap to put the Danes ahead.

They held on to inflict a first home defeat on England in two years, with the hosts also having young Chelsea full-back Reece James sent off for dissent after the final whistle.

“He is a top player, he is a massive part of what we do,” Southgate said in defence of Maguire, who has struggled for Manchester United since his involvement in a brawl on the Greek island of Mykonos in August.

“He is having a period where is having a lot of stick thrown his way and he is big enough to deal with that.”

England got to the four-team finals of the inaugural Nations League last year but their chances of getting there again this time are very much in the balance with Belgium two points ahead of Southgate’s team and the Danes atop League A, Group 2.

Belgium won 2-1 in Iceland on Wednesday with Romelu Lukaku scoring twice. They host England in Brussels on November 15.

In Zagreb, Paris Saint-Germain star Mbappe missed an open goal early on but got the winner in the 79th minute as France beat Croatia 2-1 in their latest re-run of the 2018 World Cup final.

Antoine Griezmann had put France ahead with Nikola Vlasic equalising in the second half for Croatia before around 7,000 fans.

Les Bleus have still never lost to Croatia and are level with Portugal on 10 points at the top of League A, Group 3.

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