Ukraine stuns Belgium with three goals in 12 minutes for Nations League play-off

One of the most outstanding results from Nations League games on Thursday was the comeback from Ukraine against Belgium, in the Nations League play-off for Nations League A, a two-legged play-off between the third best team in Nations League group A (which was the case for Ukraine) and the second best team in Nations League group B (the case for Belgium). The winner of the two-legged play-off will promote to Nations League A, and so far Ukraine has the upper-hand, after defeating Belgium 3-1, coming from behind and scoring three goals in 12 minutes.

It was a match with both Real Madrid goalkeepers (Andriy Lunin for Ukraine, and Thibaut Courtois for Belgium, his first time with his country's national squad since June 2023). Belgium's new coach Rudi García replaced the former manager Domenico Tedesco, who had a bad relationship with Courtois.

However, despite Romelu Lukaku scoring the first goal of the match for Belgium, Courtois wasn't able to stop the three goals that followed, including one by Brentford's Yehor Yarmoliuk, who said in an interview for Brentford FC that "when you get the Ukraine shirt on it means a lot for me and every player who plays for Ukraine".

"It's the Ukrainian mentality. We will never give up; we just keep going. I'm really proud of my country and I'm really proud to be Ukrainian", Yarmoliuk said about the comeback and the two-goal edge, a treasure to protect on Sunday, March 23 at 19:45 GMT (20:45 CET).