Nations League Roundup: Wales Thrash Republic of Ireland While France & Germany Endure Bore Draw

We've barely recovered from what was an insane 2018 FIFA World Cup, yet the internationals fixtures are back at it again, this time in a brand new competition.

We've barely recovered from what was an insane 2018 FIFA World Cup, yet the internationals fixtures are back at it again, this time in a brand new competition.

The UEFA Nations League commenced this week and it could take some time to fully understand it. But don't feel bad, the England squad are participants and even they don't know what exactly is going on.

Laurence Griffiths/GettyImages

Anyhoo, with the international break now on, Thursday threw up nine matches from the novel competition, with World Cup winners France headlining things in a showdown with 2014 winners Germany. Well, that was the idea initially.

Les Bleus, possibly still hung over from their exploits in Russia, were unable to get on the score-sheet. But at least their defence held against the Germans, which isn't as noble as it sounds, given Die Mannschaft's quick World Cup exit in June. A stalemate 0-0 was the result.

In more entertaining affairs, Gareth Bale was again on target for Wales against the Republic of Ireland. The Real Madrid star became his country's top scorer with 29 total goals back in March but took his tally to 30 in a 4-1 win over the Irish.

Paul Pogba's first half vs Germany by numbers:

Tackles - 0
Interceptions - 0
Dribbles - 0
Shots - 0
Key Passes - 0
Dispossessed - 2
Pass Accuracy - 77%
WS Rating - 6.21

Full player ratings -- https://t.co/YfL1IRtbjk pic.twitter.com/1gQJ7Ma0I5

— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) September 6, 2018

Tom Lawrence opened the scoring with a sixth-minute goal before Bale made it 2-0 12 minutes later. Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey grabbed another before half-time and Swansea City defender Connor Roberts scored his first international goal to hand Wales a 4-0 advantage in the second half. Shaun Williams, though, pulled one back for Ireland on minute 66 to provide some consolation.

You can see all of the evening's other results below:

Full Scores Table

Country	Score	Country
Czech Republic	1-2	Ukraine
Germany	0-0	France
Gibraltar	0-2	Macedonia
Latvia	0-0	Andorra
Norway	2-0	Cyprus
Slovenia	1-2	Bulgaria
Wales	4-1	Rep. of Ireland
Kazakhstan	0-2	Georgia
Armenia	2-1	Liechtenstein

Italy are in action on Friday when they take on Poland, while on Saturday England and Spain clash with Switzerland and Iceland also poised for a showdown.