(CNN)England beats Croatia to secure Nations League finals place... All Blacks lose to Ireland in Dublin... Zverev downs Djokovic in ATP Finals... Condi Rice NFL coaching rumors quashed... Opponents blame each other for darts match stink. This is your Monday sporting recap.
Grudge settled
Harry Kane of England is challenged by Tin Jedvaj of Croatia during their UEFA Nations League A group four match.
Losing World Cup semifinalist England took some measure of revenge against Croatia with a 2-1 win against the team that dumped it out of this year's tournament in Russia, thanks to a 85th-minute Harry Kane goal. The win secures the Three Lions a place at the inaugural UEFA Nations League finals, a four-team mini-tournament to be held in Portugal this coming June.
An Andrej Kramaric strike just before the hour looked like leading to an ominous repeat of that fateful match at the Luzhniki Stadium last July, but a Jesse Lingard strike 12 minutes from time brought English heads up again before Kane capped the win, sending Croatia down to the second tier of the league next season.
Croatia's Domagoj Vida of Croatia shows appreciation to the fans.
Elsewhere in the weekend's action, Switzerland also secured a place at the Nations League finals with a 5-2 drubbing of Belgium and Scotland kept playoff hopes alive with a welcome 4-0 win away to Albania, while on Friday World Cup champion France lost to the Netherlands 2-0.
The draw for the Nations League Finals will be held on December 3.
They're human after all
Ireland's Jacob Stockdale scores the only try of the game against New Zealand at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
The mighty All Blacks took on Ireland in Dublin Saturday as part of their European tour, and in a rare turn of events, walked off the field dazed after suffering a 16-9 loss against the home side.
It might've taken the world's second-ranked international side to break down the perennial champions New Zealand but in the run-up to next year's Rugby World Cup in Japan the Irish -- winning their first-ever match on home soil against the All Blacks -- showed that they have the potential to go the distance in the world's pre-eminent rugby competition.
Even All Blacks coach Steve Hansen seemed to agree, saying that "as of now (Ireland) are the number one team in the world. If you want to make them World Cup favorites, go ahead."
All Blacks' TJ Perenara in action.
The two sides exchanged penalties in an evenly matched first half, sending Ireland to the dressing room with a narrow 9-6 lead before Jacob Stockdale's phenomenal 48-minute chip-and-chase try set Irish eyes smiling. The Kiwis could only muster a further three points before the final whistle in a brutal slugfest that left everyone on the field -- and those watching -- drained.
Zverev puts brakes on Djokovic's stellar year
Alexander Zverev reacts with joy after beating Novak Djokovic at the ATP Finals.
In men's tennis, 2018 has undoubtedly been the Year of Novak. But that didn't matter to Alexander Zverev, who stunned the World Number 1, 6