Türkiye fight to secure 3-3 draw with Luxembourg but promoted to UEFA Nations B League

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - The Turkish national football team has been promoted to the UEFA Nations B League despite a 3-3 draw with underdogs Luxembourg at home Thursday.

Luxembourg's Marvin Martins scored the opener in the eighth minute. After a long ball, Martins took advantage of mistakes by Turkish defender Eren Elmali and goalkeeper Ugurcan Cakir.

Martins scored with a low strike. Turkish defender Caglar Soyuncu slid into the goalpost and received treatment for a while.

Eight minutes later, Türkiye leveled as Cengiz Under scored from a penalty after his teammate Kerem Akturkoglu was fouled in the area.

Luxembourg took the lead once again as midfielder Danel Sinani scored on a quick counterattack in the 37th minute.

Maxime Chanot, a Luxembourger defender, scored an own goal after Under's cross in the 39th minute.

The first half ended 2-2 at Istanbul's Basaksehir Fatih Terim Stadium.

Following Florian Bohnert's low pass, Gerson Rodrigues finished in the box to make it 3-2 for Luxembourg in the 69th minute.

Türkiye took risks for an equalizer.

Turkish midfielder Ismail Yuksek scored a classy goal outside the area to equalize in the 87th minute. He scored on his debut.

The match ended 3-3 in Istanbul.

But Türkiye clinched a spot in the B League as they won League C - Group 1 with 13 points.

Still undefeated, the Turkish team scored 17 goals but conceded three goals in this phase.

Second-place Luxembourg have eight points in five matches.

Faroe Islands bagged five points, and Lithuania racked up a point in this group.

Türkiye will visit Faroe Islands on Sunday to end the League C - Group 1 in Torshavn.

- Thursday's results in Nations League:

Kazakhstan - Belarus: 2-1

Latvia - Moldova: 1-2

France - Austria: 2-0

Belgium - Wales: 2-1

Poland - the Netherlands: 0-2

Croatia - Denmark: 2-1

Slovakia - Azerbaijan: 1-2

Türkiye - Luxembourg: 3-3

Lithuania - Faroe Islands: 1-1

Liechtenstein - Andorra: 0-2