Croatia rescue point against France; Brazil beat Japan in friendly

Nations League action continued on Monday, though with N’Golo Kanté getting to sit out and rest for France (and neither Andreas Christensen nor Armando Broja involved for their respective nations), it was only Mateo Kovačić who saw action from among the Chelsea boys. He played all but the final 10 minutes of Croatia’s 1-1 draw against the aforementioned Kanté-less French, with Didier Deschamps rotating his Les Bleus after the shock 1-2 defeat against Denmark on Friday.

And speaking of the Danes, they now sit comfortably atop Group A1, after beating Austria, 2-1. France and Croatia both have just one point after the first two round of the 2022-23 Nations League, though I doubt either will lose too much sleep over that.

Meanwhile, on the far side of the world overnight, Brazil beat Japan, 1-0 in a friendly. Neymar not-so-Junior-anymore got the game’s only goal, from the penalty spot. He’s now just three goals behind Pélé for the all-time Seleção lead. Thiago Silva played the final 20 minutes.