De Bruyne stars as Belgium edge thriller with Germany | OneFootball

Kevin De Bruyne scored and claimed two assists as Belgium secured a stunning 3-2 victory in Germany.

Captaining the Red Devils in the friendly in Cologne, De Bruyne took only six minutes to create the opener for Yannick Carasco.

And just three minutes later, he played a clever throughball for Romelu Lukaku to run onto and fire Belgium into a 2-0 lead.

Niclas Fullkrug pulled a goal back from the penalty spot before half-time before De Bruyne restored Belgium’s two goal advantage in the 78th minute with a neat finish on the break.

He was replaced 10 minutes later before Serge Gnabry scored a late goal from Germany to set up a thrilling finish with Belgium holding on.

Elsewhere, Lee Carsley selected four City players in his starting XI as England Under-21s lost 2-1 to Croatia.

Goalkeeper James Trafford was given the nod between the sticks and was joined by Tommy Doyle and Cole Palmer in the starting lineup.

It was also a momentous occasion for Rico Lewis who, completing the quartet, made his first appearance for the Young Lions at Craven Cottage, while James McAtee came from the bench with 10 minutes remaining.

Croatia, against the run of play, took the lead when Martin Baturina unleashed an unstoppable free-kick into the top corner on 33 minutes.

Dion Drena Beljo coolly dispatched to double the visitors' lead from the penalty spot shortly after the interval.

But England were given hope five-minutes from time when Morgan Gibbs-White calmly slotted from 12-yards after the Nottingham Forest man was brought down inside the box.

Despite registering 12 shots on goal and claiming 73 per cent possession, Carsley's team couldn't find an equaliser.

In the Euro 2024 qualifiers, Manuel Akanji played a full 90 minutes for Switzerland, helping them to a clean sheet in their 3-0 victory over Israel.

Ruben Vargas put the Swiss ahead in the 39th minute before Zeki Amadouni and Silvan Widmer extended their lead after the break.

That victory keeps Switzerland top of Group I with back-to-back wins to kick off their qualifying campaign for the tournament in Germany next summer.

However, there was disappointment for his City team-mates Aymeric Laporte and Rodrigo as Spain were beaten 2-0 at Scotland.

Laporte was an unused sub but the midfielder played all 90 minutes at Hampden Park as the Spanish side fell to a Scott McTominay double with the Scots moving three points clear at the top of Group A, which includes Norway.

Finally, Sergio Gomez played 50 second-half minutes as Spain Under-21s drew 0-0 with France.

After staring the La Roja’s 3-2 victory over Switzerland before the meeting with Les Bleus, the versatile defender was among the substitutes for their latest assignment, but came from the bench early in the second half.

Following a string of impressive saves from Barcelona’s Arnau Tenas across the first 45 minutes, both sides cancelled each other out in the second period - leaving the deadlock unbroken before the full-time whistle.