However, despite all these improvements, Turkey performed poorly in their two opening games in September 2020. The first game against Hungary at home saw Turkey suffer a 0–1 loss by a free kick from Dominik Szoboszlai. Going to Belgrade against Serbia, after repeated Serbian pressure, Turkey had a one-man advantage following Aleksandar Kolarov's red card, however the Turks failed to capitalise and were held goalless. This damaged their chances of qualifying for League A, as their next opponents in October will be Russia (who had had a strong start) and Hungary. The early poor performance could also represent a detrimental effect for Turkey, as this season's Nations League was used for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification process.