Nations League October Window Verdict: France’s New Wave Rolls Over Belgium, Portugal Edge Norway, Germany Blanked

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2026

The October international window of the 2026–27 UEFA Nations League is closed, and Matchdays 3 and 4 delivered the full menu: a French explosion, a Portuguese escape act, a German blank, and a Dutch comeback. Twenty-six ties across three days (October 4–6) are final, and with the November window now the only one left in the group stage, every one of them moved the needle. Every score and goal time below is final, verified against ESPN.

France 4-1 Belgium: the new wave, in fourteen minutes

The standout result of the window belongs to France, and it almost belonged to Belgium. Dodi Lukébakio finished in the 35th minute to put the visitors ahead, and for the next forty minutes of football the upset was on. Then the French talent factory went to work — all at once.

Désiré Doué equalized in the 77th minute. Rayan Cherki put France in front four minutes later. Michael Olise made it 3-1 in the 88th, then added a fourth in the first minute of stoppage time. That is four goals in fourteen minutes — three of them in the final eleven — and a 4-1 final that flatters France only in the sense that it took them 77 minutes to start playing like France. Doué, Cherki and Olise are all products of the same pipeline that has made France’s youth production the envy of world football; on Monday night they announced themselves together, in the same match, against a Belgium side that simply could not keep up with the last quarter of the game.

Michael OliseFrance winger — the brace (88’, 90+1’) that turned a tight game into a 4-1 rout of Belgium.

Gonçalo RamosPortugal striker — the 79th-minute winner against Norway, stepping up with Ronaldo out of camp.

Joshua ZirkzeeNetherlands forward — the 72nd-minute winner that beat Serbia 2-1.

Rasmus HøjlundDenmark striker — a cool 75th-minute penalty to see off Wales 1-0.

Gianluca ScamaccaItaly striker — opened the 3-1 win over Türkiye (26’) and set the tone for the Azzurri.

Portugal 2-1 Norway: life without Ronaldo, and it worked

Portugal played without Cristiano Ronaldo — he walked out of the Nations League camp, and Jorge Jesus has said the decision on his return is Ronaldo’s alone — and for 36 minutes it looked like a problem. Kristoffer Ajer put Norway in front, and Portugal were chasing.

The response was immediate and emphatic. João Cancelo leveled just two minutes later, in the 38th, and then Gonçalo Ramos — the striker who has lived in Ronaldo’s long shadow, most famously when he started a World Cup knockout game ahead of him — stepped forward again. His 79th-minute goal won it: Portugal 2-1, a win secured without their captain and defining icon. There was late chaos when Francisco Conceição was sent off in the 86th minute, and Bruno Fernandes was booked two minutes later, but Portugal held on. The message, intended or not, is unavoidable: this team can win the big one without its biggest name.

Germany 0-0 Greece: the blank night

Every window has one of these, and Germany drew the short straw. Zero goals in Greece, seven yellow cards — Kostas Tsimikas, Waldemar Anton, Christos Zafeiris, Philipp Treu, Manolis Saliakas and Malick Thiaw all booked, plus one more — and a result that keeps the pressure on Germany’s group position heading into November. Greece will take the point gladly; Germany will not want to think about the chances that went missing.

Netherlands 2-1 Serbia and Denmark 1-0 Wales: the comebacks and the grinders

The Netherlands did it the hard way. Teun Koopmeiners bent in a free-kick in the 31st minute, Serbia answered through Mihajlo Cvetkovic’s header just four minutes later, and for the next half-hour it stayed 1-1 — until Joshua Zirkzee found the winner in the 72nd minute. The Dutch banked all three points at home and kept the pressure on at the top of their group.

Denmark found a simpler route: Rasmus Højlund converted a 75th-minute penalty to beat Wales 1-0. No frills, no second goal, no conceded equalizer — the kind of efficient home win that good tournament teams grind out, and a result that keeps Denmark exactly where they want to be with two matchdays left.

Italy 3-1 Türkiye and the rest of the window

Italy’s 3-1 win over Türkiye in Bologna — Gianluca Scamacca (26’), Riccardo Calafiori’s header (64’) and Pio Esposito (87’) around Aral Simsir’s equalizer (61’) — we covered in detail here, as well as Hungary’s 2-1 win in Ukraine, Sweden’s 1-0 win in Romania and Bosnia’s 1-0 win over Poland. Tuesday’s Matchweek 4 slate — Spain’s 2-1 comeback in Split on Mikel Merino’s late double, England’s 3-0 win over Czechia on Harry Kane’s brace, Switzerland’s 3-0 win over North Macedonia — is covered in our Matchweek 4 finals wrap.

A few more lines from the full window worth your time: Kosovo and Austria drew 1-1, Ireland and Israel drew 1-1, Cyprus won 2-1 in Latvia, Georgia and Northern Ireland played a scoreless draw, and Montenegro and Armenia did the same.

Full scoreboard: the October window’s key finals

The results that shaped Matchdays 3 and 4 — final, via ESPN. Home team listed second.

Belgium

Full time1 - 4

FranceMon, Oct 5 · Lukébakio 35’; Doué 77’, Cherki 81’, Olise 88’, 90+1’

Norway

Full time1 - 2

PortugalSun, Oct 4 · Ajer 36’; Cancelo 38’, Ramos 79’

Germany

Full time0 - 0

GreeceSun, Oct 4

Serbia

Full time1 - 2

NetherlandsSun, Oct 4 · Koopmeiners 31’, Cvetkovic 35’, Zirkzee 72’

Wales

Full time0 - 1

DenmarkSun, Oct 4 · Højlund 75’ (pen)

Türkiye

Full time1 - 3

ItalyMon, Oct 5 · Scamacca 26’, Simsir 61’, Calafiori 64’, Esposito 87’

Spain

Full time2 - 1

CroatiaTue, Oct 6 · Perisic 17’; Merino 61’, 88’

Czechia

Full time0 - 3

EnglandTue, Oct 6 · Coufal 27’ (og), Kane 40’, 57’

All scores final. Away team listed first; home team second. Goal times verified against ESPN.

What’s next: November decides everything

Matchdays 3 and 4 are gone, and there is no more margin. The final window of the group stage runs November 13–17 — 44 games in five days — and every quarter-final berth, every promotion and every relegation line is still live. We have the real November schedule and a group-by-group breakdown of what every League A side needs from the final two matchdays: England at Spain, Italy vs France, the Netherlands hosting Greece, Portugal’s quarter-final formality — and the trap doors waiting underneath half the continent’s big names.

France, Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark used October to put themselves in the driving seat. Germany used it to go scoreless. November is the reckoning.

France 4-1 Belgium (Doué 77’, Cherki 81’, Olise 88’, 90+1’; Lukébakio 35’). Portugal 2-1 Norway (Ajer 36’; Cancelo 38’, Ramos 79’; Conceição sent off 86’). Germany 0-0 Greece. UEFA Nations League 2026/27 — Matchdays 3 and 4; group stage runs September 24 to November 17, 2026.