Malta won Group D1 of the UEFA Nations League as Andorra defeated Gibraltar 2-0 in another match from the group at the Estadi de la FAF in Encamp, Andorra on Friday.

Guillaume Lopez put Andorra ahead on 24 minutes and Albert Rosas doubled the score on 35 minutes. Tjay De Barr missed a penalty for Gibraltar on 64 minutes.

This defeat for Gibraltar means that they could no longer win the group after collecting two points in the first two matches after draws with Andorra at home and Malta away from home. Andorra, on the other hand, registered their first win in the group to move second on four points, three behind Malta. 

Malta had defeated Andorra 2-1 in Encamp in September before being held in a 1-1 draw by Gibraltar but a 1-0 win over Andorra at Ta’ Qali put them on top of Group D1. Following Andorra’s win over Gibraltar on Friday, the latter can no longer reach Malta on top of the group, meaning that after four attempts, Malta managed to win the group. 

Malta had placed fourth in Group D3 in 2018 behind Kosovo, Azerbaijan and the Faroe Islands. IN 2020, Malta placed second in Group D1 behind the Faroe Islands, ahead of Latvia and Andorra while two years later, Malta placed second in Group D2 behind Estonia and ahead of San Marino. In 2024, Malta had to settle for another second place in Group D2 behind Moldova and ahead of Andorra.

Malta had already been assured of a place in League C in the 2028 edition of the UEFA Nations League as the tournament will transition from the current four leagues to three leagues of 18 teams each . Every league will be composed of three groups of six teams playing six matches against five different opponents: home or away against teams from different pots, home and away against the opponent of their same pot.

In the final match against Gibraltar on Monday, Malta still has an important objective to play for as a positive result would ensure Malta has the better ranking among the six teams in League D which puts Malta in a good position of entering the EURO 2028 play-offs.