England manager Gareth Southgate has labelled Germany as one of the benchmarks in international football due to their continued presence in the latter stages of major tournaments.

The Three Lions head to Munich on Tuesday for their second Nations League game, having suffered a surprise 1-0 defeat to Hungary on Saturday in their first League A Group 3 game.

Meanwhile, Germany shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Italy as preparations for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are stepped up.

England and Germany met only last June at Euro 2020, with Southgate's side 2-0 victors at the last-16 stage in front of a buoyant Wembley crowd.

Germany have failed to score in their past two matches against England, as many as in their previous 16 games combined.

But Southgate still views Hansi Flick's side as a force to be reckoned with looking forward to the clash at the Allianz Arena and further ahead to the World Cup in November.

"You can see elements of what he did with Bayern Munich, I think seven either current or had just left Bayern, a lot of have cohesion and experience working with him," Southgate said of Flick on Monday.

"You can see the counter-pressing and the general pressing of the forwards, we have to be prepared for that. With the ball, they have some talented players.

"We saw that in summer, I think in some respects the result in summer was overlooked, I'm not sure why. The quality of the team was still very high, World Cup winners everywhere, Champions League winners.

"Real experience of those big occasions. For me, I think Brazil and Germany are still the benchmarks for teams who have regularly won tournaments, regularly making finals, even when you look at the 5-1 here [in 2001], they ended up in the World Cup final.

"You have to respect what they are and where they are as a footballing country, we have to try and replicate that and instil that mentality.

"We have to keep getting to the latter stages of competitions and games like tomorrow are exactly what we need. I think it's a great measure for us, this will be a brilliant test of what we're about and where we're at.

"It won't define where we're at in six months' time, if we win tomorrow, it doesn't mean we are going to win the whole thing in five, six months.

"One of the challenges before was can we beat the bigger teams, we've beat Belgium, Germany and Spain, we're starting to do that so now it is can we continue to do that."

England have not come out on top in consecutive games against Germany since a seven-game winning run between 1935 and 1966, the last game of which was the World Cup final.

Southgate vowed to rotate once again after offering the likes of Jarrod Bowen and James Justin starts in Budapest.

"We are going to push. We want to perform well. We will manage their load. Everyone of them wants to play tomorrow night," he continued. 

"There is huge motivation in the group. I don't think the long season was the cause of the result the other day. The heat was a huge factor.

"To talk about the season is a psychological thing. It is no different to going into the Euros or the World Cup.

"It varies slightly from game to game, you are always trying to win. You always pick a team strong enough to win a game of football. We are trying to manage players coming back.

"To play Saturday and Tuesday is very challenging. Always trying to learn things, there's the performance and result. We go trying to win and the learnings after it is how you develop and improve as a team.

"James [Justin] won't be ready for tomorrow but we are hopeful he will be back for the next game if not the one after. Marc [Guehi] should be ready for tomorrow. Fikayo [Tomori] we could probably put him in the squad but given it's a hamstring we will give him a bit longer."

Alastair Cook expects Joe Root to go "miles past" his record for the most Test runs scored by an England batter after the former captain reached the 10,000 landmark at Lord's.

Playing his first game for his country since stepping down as skipper, Root claimed the man of the match award for his magnificent unbeaten 115 in a five-wicket win over New Zealand.

He was brilliantly supported by Ben Foakes (32 not out) in an unbroken stand of 120 that gave England a winning start to a new era with Ben Stokes as captain and Brendon McCullum head coach.

Root's 26th Test century made him only the second England player to score 10,000 runs in the longest format after Cook, and only the 14th from any nation.

At 31 years and 157 days, he reached the milestone at exactly the same age that his former team-mate Cook achieved the feat.

Root is 2,457 runs shy of the tally of 12,472 Cook racked up in his outstanding Test career and the former skipper says only injury can prevent him from beating his record.

"Barring injury, he'll go miles past my record," Cook told BBC Sport.

"He is so hard to tie down. I had to grind my way to 30, it always took me what felt like two hours. Because Joe has got so many low-risk scoring options, pretty much through 360 degrees, he will often get to 30 off 40 balls."

Cook, who ended his international career aged 33, rates Root as the best England batter he has witnessed.

"He is a pleasure to watch, the most complete England batsman I have seen," he added.

"The person who could play the most incredible innings was Kevin Pietersen, but for the most complete batsmen in all three forms, it's Root. His consistency is incredible."

England and New Zealand start the second match of the series at Trent Bridge on Friday.

Egypt manager Ehab Galal claimed Liverpool star Mohamed Salah played through an injury during his country's 1-0 win against Guinea on Sunday.

Salah played the whole of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, which saw The Pharaohs win with a late Mostafa Mohamed strike.

Galal said after his first game in charge of Egypt since taking over from Carlos Queiroz that Liverpool asked for Salah to have an x-ray beforehand, but the player refused.

"Salah was suffering from an injury and played through it," Galal said, according to KingFut. "He rejected Liverpool’s request for an x-ray before the game and will now undergo it."

Egypt play away to Ethiopia on Thursday in another AFCON qualifier, before a friendly next Tuesday against South Korea.

Salah had a productive season for Liverpool, jointly winning the Premier League's golden boot with Son Heung-min of Tottenham on 23 goals, while also claiming the Football Writers' Association and PFA Fans' Player of the Year awards.

He also won the EFL Cup and FA Cup with the Reds, though Jurgen Klopp's side narrowly missed out on the Premier League title to Manchester City before losing the Champions League final to Real Madrid.

Salah - who also recorded the most assists in the Premier League during the campaign with 13 - is out of contract at the end of next season, and has been linked with a free transfer to Barcelona should he be unable to agree a new deal at Anfield.

The Boston Celtics were left to wonder what might have been after a poor third quarter saw them lose Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday, levelling the series at 1-1.

An underwhelming first half performance saw the Celtics trail by only two points, and after their incredible fourth quarter showing in Game 1, the hope for Boston was they could finish strongly again and take a commanding 2-0 lead.

However, after finding themselves trailing by 23 points by the time the final quarter arrived, they had left themselves far too much to do.

Celtics coach Ime Udoka blamed the amount of turnovers, saying after the 107-88 defeat at Chase Center: "That's been an ongoing theme in the playoffs so far. We've turned over the ball. Take teams out of scoring against us in the half court, give them some baskets.

"But it was more of the same in that third quarter. We had 11 for 18 points in that first half and gave up five or six more in that quarter. Kind of blew it open, and that hampered our offense, as well."

Jayson Tatum - who top-scored for the Celtics with 28 points, though ended the game with a minus-36, which is the worst plus-minus of the 24-year-old's career - agreed with Udoka on turnovers, but also pointed to the general sloppiness at the start of the third-quarter that saw the Warriors pull away.

"I think tonight, turnovers, and I think sometimes letting our offense affect how we defend, kind of was a little stagnant in the third quarter," Tatum said.

"I feel like it translated on the defensive end, and they got going and hitting shots and things like that."

Boston have now been outscored by at least 14 points on four occasions in the third quarter during this year's playoffs, and guard Derrick White also expressed his frustration at the increasing trend of losing the game just after half-time.

"Yeah, it's definitely frustrating," he said. "I mean, we've talked about it pretty much the whole postseason. It's easy to talk about, but we've got to go out there and change something.

"That was a big quarter for them and really a quarter that put us away."

Quin Snyder has resigned as coach of the Utah Jazz after eight seasons in charge.

Snyder was appointed as head coach of Utah in 2014, signing a three-year contract before extending his deal twice to prolong his stay in Salt Lake City.

The 55-year-old transformed the Jazz into a competitive playoff force, reaching the postseason for the last six straight seasons, although they have not progressed past the conference semi-finals in that run.

Snyder was the joint-third longest-serving coach in NBA, alongside Golden State Warriors' Steve Kerr, who trails Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra and San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich.

Having overseen a period of change in Utah, Snyder departs with the second-best winning record of any Jazz coach after boasting a 372-264 regular-season record.

"Quin Snyder has embodied what Jazz basketball is for the last eight years," said Jazz owner Ryan Smith.

"The tireless work ethic and attention to detail Quin displayed each day is a testament to the professional he is. I have nothing but admiration for Quin and respect his decision.

"We thank Quin and Amy from the bottom of our hearts for all of their contributions to the state of Utah and the Jazz and wish them nothing but the best."

Reports suggested Utah were intent on agreeing a new contract with Snyder, who is said to want to take a season's break to recuperate before he considers a new coaching role.

"At the core, and what drives me every day is our players and their passion for the game, their desire to constantly work to improve and their dedication to the team and the Jazz," Snyder said.

"I strongly feel they need a new voice to continue to evolve. That's it. No philosophical differences, no other reason. After eight years, I just feel it is time to move onward.

"I needed to take time to detach after the season and make sure this was the right decision. I greatly respect and appreciate Ryan, Danny [Ainge] and Justin's [Zanik] discussions regarding moving forward together, I just know it is time.

"I am forever appreciative of all the players, coaches, partners, and people I have worked with at the Jazz. Your sacrifice, your kinship have made this an incredible and special experience.

"Amy and I are so grateful for our time here as it has been just a tremendous place to raise our family. Thank you to our always supportive and passionate fans. We only want the best for you and to see you raise a championship banner."

Luis Enrique acknowledged Spain have "many things to improve" on after La Roja were fortunate to draw against the Czech Republic.

Gavi, aged 17 years and 304 days, became the youngest ever player to score for Spain as he curled in to cancel out Jakub Pesek's fourth-minute opener in Prague.

The Barcelona midfielder's strike also meant Spain have scored in 16 straight games in all competitions, only twice achieving such longer streaks in history.

Jan Kutcha then again edged Czech Republic ahead in the Nations League encounter as he chipped over the onrushing Unai Simon in the second half.

But there was to be late drama as Inigo Martinez's 90th-minute header snatched a point for Spain, who sit two points behind Group A2 joint-leaders Czech Republic and Portugal after two games.

With just one team progressing to the Nations League finals, Luis Enrique was glad to pick up a point but urged his side to improve.

Asked whether the stalemate would keep the critics quiet, the Spain coach told reporters: "Noise is the most beautiful thing in the world of football. I know what I play, I know where I'm going. 

"There are many things to improve. But the best thing about drawing is that the rival does not add three points.

"The important thing is that the rival does not escape us."

Luis Enrique was also quick to heap praise on teenage star Gavi after yet another fine performance in midfield.

"I know Gavi very well, I've been watching videos for five years of him. If there was any player who we wanted in that position in the first half, it was him," he added. 

"Either he shoots or he gets into the area, and that conviction is unstoppable."

Portugal boss Fernando Santos does not know what else can be said about Cristiano Ronaldo after his starring role in Sunday's Nations League win over Switzerland.

The veteran forward bounced back from being benched for Thursday's opener against Spain with a brace as he led the hosts to a 4-0 rout in Lisbon.

The result maintained an unbeaten start to the latest iteration of the competition for Portugal - and further underlined the vital role their captain plays in their success.

Speaking afterwards, Santos - who together with Ronaldo delivered Euro 2016 glory six years ago - admitted he has no further words to describe one of the game's greatest figures.

"I don't know what else to say," Santos said. "I will repeat that he is the best player in the world.

"What more can I say? I think it's all been said."

"I'm a coach who's happy when I win and when the team plays like they've practiced," Santos added to SportTV of Portugal's overall performance.

"After the first few minutes, we got the ball back and controlled the game. We could have done one or two more in the first half.

"In the second half the pace dropped, [but] the players are not machines. We scored another goal.

"Switzerland created some problems, but we always found the right solutions. It's more to Portugal's credit."

Ben Stokes warned England's Test fortunes will not change overnight after starting the Brendon McCullum era with victory over New Zealand.

Captain Stokes and coach McCullum were tasked with transforming England in the five-day game, and got off to a great start with a five-wicket victory over New Zealand in the first Test of a three-match series.

England were largely indebted to the heroics of former captain Joe Root, who became only the second Englishman to score 10,000 runs in the longest format with an unbeaten fourth-innings 115.

Root is the 14th batter to achieve the 10,000-run tally in Test cricket after England knocked off 277 in the chase on Sunday, recovering from 69-4 on Saturday to fight back against the Black Caps.

The second Test starts on Friday at Trent Bridge and Stokes attempted to temper expectations as he suggested instant success will not be achieved.

"I was always looking to be positive and just really staying true to what I was saying and how I want to captain and not letting the game dictate what I did," Stokes told reporters.

"I was just making sure that I still stuck to my guns in the way that I wanted the bowlers to bowl, the fields that I set, stick to everything that you've been talking about because you know actions speak louder than words.

"It's a great start, we've won, there's obviously going to be you know, ups and downs.

"And it's just about dealing with that but I think having me and Brendon in charge, it's going to be really important how we operate when things don't go well.

"It's not an overnight thing. This is what me and Brendon are trying to work towards and we know that."

Stokes also heaped praise on the attitude of McCullum, who was intent on sending Stuart Broad ahead of debutant Matthew Potts to bat should England have lost another wicket on the evening of day three.

"When Foakesy went out to bat, he was going to send Broady in if we lost the wicket to go and have a slog, just to score 30, 40 runs, then the game's done," Stokes said.

"That's the kind of stuff that we're not used to in the dressing room. Those kinds of things filtering around will do us the world of good.

"The confidence and the energy that he brings about, his mindset towards the game, he's just going to make everybody feel 10-foot tall in any situation and I've really enjoyed working with him so far this week."

Gareth Bale described Wales' World Cup qualifying play-off final win over Ukraine as the "greatest result" in the national team's history.

Andriy Yarmolenko's own goal ensured a 1-0 triumph for Wales, who were largely indebted to the heroics of Wayne Hennessey as Rob Page's team held on to book their spot at Qatar 2022.

It meant Wales qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1958 and Bale, who will leave Real Madrid when his contract expires at the end of the month, was in no doubt about the significance of the result.

"It's the greatest result in history for Welsh football," Bale told Sky Sports. "We are all ecstatic. The fans together, it was a delight, and we are going to a World Cup!

"It means everything. It's what dreams are made of. It's what we've been working for since we first came here. I'm so happy for all our amazing fans and our country. Words can't describe how we're feeling at the moment.

"It was difficult. I haven't done too much over the last four weeks because of my back spasm, which everyone knows about.

"Contributing in whatever way I could, but the most important thing was to get through it and get through to the World Cup.

"I gave my all on the pitch and I was running a bit on empty, it's always good to have players come off the bench and do a job."

Wales' victory means they will face England, the United States and Iran in Group B in Qatar.

And interim manager Page dedicated the Red Dragons' success to former boss Gary Speed, who died in 2011.

"I've said in the build-up, Gary Speed started this 12 or 13 years ago," he told a media conference. "I want to dedicate this to Gary. He started the culture, 12 years ago.

"There was a difference, there was a change. The environment completely changed. I've inherited that, Chris Coleman took it on and took it to another level, and I've inherited that group.

"We're confident going into games now. We don't hope to qualify for the World Cup or Euros now, we believe we can do it, so there's been a massive change in the mentality as well.

"I had a difficult decision tonight. I've got people like Harry Wilson and Brennan Johnson, who is going to be a superstar, isn't he? You've got people like him who didn't start tonight. But we had our best 11 on the pitch.

"It's encouraging, it's good, we're going in the right direction. We need to continue to develop these young players that we have done for the last few years, and it's only going to get better for us."

Cristiano Ronaldo gave an emphatic reminder of his value to Portugal as he fired them to a 4-0 victory over Switzerland in the Nations League.

The veteran forward and captain was rested to the bench for his country's opener with Spain on Thursday, forced to make do with a half-hour cameo in the 1-1 draw.

But the Manchester United star sent a searing message of his indispensability to coach Fernando Santos on his return to the starting line-up, bagging a double after setting up the opener for the hosts at Estadio Jose Alvalade.

For Murat Yakin's Swiss visitors, a second defeat of the Nations League in as many games leaves them facing a tough remaining schedule, after losing to the Czech Republic last time out.

It could have been so different though, after a lively start in Lisbon looked to have thrown up a wretched start for the hosts when Haris Seferovic prodded in from close range amid a crowded box.

Portugal were let off the hook, however, when VAR intervened to deem Fabian Schar had committed a handball infringement in the build-up from Xherdan Shaqiri's corner.

After that early scare, Santos' side sought to impose themselves and were rewarded on the quarter-hour mark when William Carvalho tapped home the rebound after Ronaldo's free-kick was pushed out.

From there, Ronaldo unfurled his instinct for hitting goals in rapid succession, first doubling his side's lead with a smooth strike from Diogo Jota's cut-back in the 35th minute, before adding a second for himself four minutes later with a tap-in.

The captain almost had a hat-trick before the break, steering an effort wide, and even as the goals dried up after the interval, he remained a potent marshal for Portugal's steady hold on the encounter.

With a three-goal cushion a bridge too far for Switzerland, the visitors proved particularly toothless in response. When Joao Cancelo struck in the 68th minute, what little resistance the Swiss had displayed perished as the hosts steered themselves to a resounding victory.

Inigo Martinez scored a late equaliser as Spain salvaged a 2-2 draw in the Nations League with the Czech Republic.

Luis Enrique vowed to rotate after Spain's opening Group A2 stalemate with Portugal and made eight changes in Prague, where Jakub Pesek struck after just four minutes.

Kuchta nudged Jaroslav Silhavy's side ahead again in the second half after Gavi's first-half equaliser, before Martinez popped up in the 90th minute to snatch a point.

The stalemate left Spain three points Group A2 joint-leaders Czech Republic and Portugal, who eased past Switzerland on Sunday.

Lionel Messi scored all five goals as Argentina made it 33 matches unbeaten with a 5-0 friendly win over Estonia on Sunday.

Coach Lionel Scaloni's side set a new national record of 32 matches unbeaten with the 3-0 Finalissima win over Italy on Wednesday, and they never looked like failing to extend that run – the longest currently intact in international football – against a limited Estonia outfit.

Messi got them on their way from the penalty spot, before doubling his tally with a sumptuous finish on the stroke of half-time.

He completed a treble early in the second half, before adding further goals inside the final 20 minutes as Argentina cruised to victory at Estadio El Sadar in Pamplona, Spain.

Argentina wasted little time in stamping their authority on the game, Messi stroking home from the spot in the eighth minute after Estonia goalkeeper Matvei Igonen wiped out German Pezzella.

Messi grabbed his second in the 45th minute, the Paris Saint-Germain forward superbly curling over Igonen from 10 yards after being played in by Alejandro Gomez.

Argentina's captain and talisman sealed a hat-trick two minutes after the interval, steering home Nahuel Molina's cross from the right wing from 10 yards.

Julian Alvarez and Rodrigo de Paul went close for La Albiceleste, before Messi netted a fourth with a cool finish past Igonen in the 71st minute after taking advantage of uncertainty in the Estonia defence.

He put the seal on a remarkable individual performance to make it 5-0 five minutes later, slotting home from 12 yards after a scramble in the opposition penalty area.

What does it mean? Argentina lay down World Cup marker

Despite not winning the World Cup since 1986, Argentina are among the favourites to triumph in Qatar later this year.

They will need to overcome significantly sterner opposition than Estonia to get their hands on the trophy, yet all the signs point to them being a side to be reckoned with, particularly if Messi plays like this.

Magical Messi

He had a subdued season with PSG, scoring just 11 goals across all competitions, but Messi was at his electric best here. The 34-year-old scored with all five of his shots on target, while he also made three key passes – a tally bettered only by team-mate Alejandro Gomez.

Wasteful Alvarez

New Manchester City signing Alvarez will hope Messi's finishing prowess rubs off on him, with the 22-year-old failing to find the back of the net with his four shots – three of which were on target.

What's next?

Argentina's attention turns towards Qatar 2022, although their warm-up games for the tournament have yet to be scheduled, while Estonia face Malta in the Nations League on Thursday.

Never meet your heroes. Casper Ruud was setting himself up for a fall when he described Rafael Nadal as "my idol for all my life" heading into Sunday's French Open final, and when that fall arrived it was spectacular.

Ruud versus Nadal on Court Philippe-Chatrier was a classic mismatch on paper, and on clay.

The fanboy stood no chance, swept away 6-3 6-3 6-0 as Nadal landed Roland Garros title number 14, an absurd feat of sporting staying power, becoming the oldest men's singles champion at the Paris grand slam, moving to 22 majors, two clear of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

If Ruud needs a little consolation, the great Federer, at the peak of his powers, only took four games off Nadal in the 2008 final.

This is not the 2008 Nadal though. This is Nadal at 36 years and two days old, a player who needed a doctor at his side during the past fortnight to allow him to step on court.

Nadal has a foot problem that is said to be incurable, but thankfully it is treatable.

"We played with no feeling on the foot," Nadal told Eurosport. "We played with an injection on the nerve so that the foot was asleep, so that's why I was able to play."

While the foot was sleeping, the rest of Nadal's body was picking up the slack.

Ruud was six years old in 2005 when Nadal won his first French Open, and 17 years later he had the best view in Court Philippe-Chatrier of the Spaniard again in full flow.

This was his first match against Nadal, although they have often practiced together at the Spaniard's academy in Mallorca, where Ruud has done much of his learning. Here was another lesson.

Nadal loves a mid-afternoon match with the roof open, and a warm day in the French capital only enhanced his sense that the place was feeling like home.

He was on top without being masterful in the opening set, simply doing enough against the first Norwegian man to reach a slam final.

Trumpets blared Y Viva Espana when he wrapped that one up, then delivered a fanfare as Nadal strolled back onto court for the start of the second set.

He receives the first-class treatment in Paris, with the king of Spain, Felipe VI, on hand to witness the king of clay scale his latest career height.

There was perhaps brief concern for his royal highness when Ruud broke Nadal's serve early in the second set to eke out a 3-1 lead, but he needn't have worried.

Ruud won a 19-shot rally to earn three break points, and that was followed by a double fault from the favourite.

Nadal later called that game "a disaster", but he should probably let it go.

Armed with a 3-1 lead in that second set, it was imperative that Ruud should build on that.

He didn't win another game.

When Nadal swatted away a forehand to bring up a break point in the second game of the third set, he had Ruud right where he wanted him, and a vicious backhand out of the Norwegian's reach secured a seventh successive game.

Number eight followed, and then a ninth as the clean winners flowed from Nadal's racket. The winners and the games kept coming.

The contest had moved into mercy-killing territory. Make it quick Rafa, as painless as possible, don't drag it out.

When he fizzed a backhand down the line on match point, way out of Ruud's reach, it was all over. Two hours and 18 minutes was all it took. With a little less of his familiar between-points faffing, Nadal might have had it done inside two hours.

He lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires with the gusto of a man who had never held it before, and that in itself spoke volumes for this achievement.

Nadal's Roland Garros record now shows 112 wins and just three defeats, and this was a 63rd title on clay – a 92nd title overall. What a career.

Andres Gimeno, also from Spain, was 34 years, 10 months and one day old when he captured the 1972 French Open title, and until Sunday he was the oldest men's champion at this event.

Nadal spoke afterwards of his determination to keep playing, keep "fighting". He wants to wring every last ounce of strength from a body that is letting him know that retirement cannot be far away, and he is getting incredible bang for his buck just now.

Which is why we can now look at Wimbledon, and pose the question: can he do this again on grass?

And if at this point you are thinking, 'surely not', just remember what he has achieved in Melbourne and now in Paris this year, and ask yourself instead: why ever not?

Wales will appear at the World Cup for the first time in 64 years after Andriy Yarmolenko's own goal ensured a 1-0 qualifying play-off final win over Ukraine.

Ukraine marked their first competitive match back after Russia's invasion with a 3-1 play-off semi-final win over Scotland on Wednesday to tee up the winner-takes-all decider in Cardiff.

Oleksandr Petrakov's visitors controlled first-half proceedings but were made to pay when Gareth Bale, with the help of Yarmolenko's head, struck first after 34 minutes.

Wales were largely indebted to the heroics of Wayne Hennessey as Rob Page's team held on to book their spot in Qatar alongside England, United States and Iran in World Cup Group B.

A long-range Viktor Tsygankov drive forced an early save from Hennessey, who tipped over a deflected cross from the Ukraine winger from the resulting corner.

Oleksandr Petrakov's visitors, buoyed on by a vociferous away crowd, continued with their dominance as another smart Hennessey stop denied Roman Yaremchuk as he threatened with a drilled effort.

Hennessey kept out Oleksandr Zinchenko's curler and the Wales goalkeeper's plethora of first-half saves paid dividends, with Yarmolenko heading Bale's goal-bound free-kick past Georgi Bushchan.

Aaron Ramsey angled a glorious chance from Kieffer Moore's cutback wide, while Hennessey kicked away Tsygankov's close-range prod in an entertaining second-half opening.

Ruslan Malinovskiy fired a deflected strike wide as Ukraine searched for an equaliser, with Brennan Johnson hitting the post and Bushchan denying Bale at the other end during a frenetic finish.

Hennessey was again the hero as he produced a fantastic stop against Artem Dovbyk in the closing stages to send Wales to the World Cup.

Sadio Mane insists he respects Liverpool but remained non-committal on his future amid links to Bayern Munich.

The Liverpool forward has been strongly linked to the Bundesliga champions, and suggested he would reveal his future following the Reds' Champions League final with Real Madrid last week.

Mane offered little clarity on his future after the defeat to Madrid, but then suggested his preference lies away from the Premier League by saying he will let the Senegalese people decide his next destination.

"Isn't it between 60 to 70 per cent of Senegalese want me to leave Liverpool? I will do what they want. We will see soon," he said while away on international duty.

But after becoming Senegal's record scorer with a hat-trick against Benin on Saturday, Mane backtracked on his comments as he expressed his admiration for Liverpool.

"I spoke while joking with a bit of humour and it was everywhere. I think we'll stop there," he told Canal Plus.

"Liverpool is a club I respect a lot. The fans adopted me since day one. Regarding the future, we'll see."

Mane played 51 games for Liverpool in the 2021-22 season – only 10 players across Europe's top five leagues appeared more often – finding the net 23 times and assisting two more.

That has led to interest from Bayern, but undoubtedly most of Europe's elite clubs would be interested should Mane become available.

Real Madrid and Barcelona could be among potential contenders for the Senegal international's signature, but he was unable to pick between the pair when asked who he generally favoured and was quick to point instead towards his support for Marseille.

"You know, you've got me in trouble with the Liverpool fans right now but hey," he told reporters.

"Those two teams [Madrid and Barca] are not bad. But I'm not a fan of those teams. You know, my team is Marseille, so I would say Marseille."