Netherlands and Croatia reach Nations League final four, while defending champion France narrowly avoids relegation

By Matias Grez, CNN

Updated 1046 GMT (1846 HKT) September 26, 2022

Virgil van Dijk celebrates after scoring the winning goal for the Netherlands.

(CNN)The Netherlands and Croatia reached the Nations League final four with victories on Sunday, while defending World Cup champion France's struggles continued as Didier Deschamps' side narrowly avoided relegation following a 2-0 defeat to Denmark.

The Netherlands beat Belgium 1-0 in Amsterdam thanks to a second-half header from Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk, while Croatia sealed its place in next year's semifinal with a 3-1 win away to Austria.Louis van Gaal's side has been totally dominant in the Nations League group stages, going undefeated and winning five of its six matches to finish six points clear of Belgium in second place in Group A4.Croatia, meanwhile, narrowly edged Denmark to the top spot in Group A1 as Luka Modric, Marko Livaja and Dejan Lovren sealed victory over Austria for the 2018 World Cup finalist. Qualification to the Nations League final four marks an impressive turnaround for Croatia, which disappointingly lost its opening group stage match at home to Austria.READ: Arsenal hammers Tottenham 4-0 as match sets new Women's Super League attendance recordRead MoreLuka Modric celebrates after securing Croatia's place in the finals.The Danes will likely be feeling unlucky to have beaten France and still missing out on qualifying, finishing on 12 points behind Croatia. Kasper Dolberg and Andreas Skov Olsen got the goals that sealed a memorable win over France, which avoided relegation thanks to Austria's defeat.Les Bleus finished third, one point ahead of Austria, but managed just one win from six and scored a meager six goals, the worst attacking record in