UEFA Nations League: Ronaldo Shines as Portugal Reach Last Eight, Spain Seal Top Spot in Group A
Portugal booked their quarter-final spot following a stunning second-half showing against Poland. The visitors had much the better of the first half, but it was largely one-way traffic once Rafael Leão made the breakthrough with a 59th-minute header.
The Seleção turned on the style with a four-goal flurry in the space of 16 minutes, including Cristiano Ronaldo’s chipped penalty and overhead kick either side of emphatic Bruno Fernandes and Pedro Neto finishes, before substitute Dominik Marczuk pulled one back for the Biało-Czerwoni late on.
John McGinn came off the bench to thump Scotland’s late winner against ten-man Croatia and keep their hopes of qualifying alive. Craig Gordon produced a fine early save to thwart Andrej Kramarić and also denied Luka Sučić before his cousin Petar Sučić was shown a red card for a second booking just before the break.
Scotland piled on the pressure after the break but the visitors should have struck when Luka Modrić freed Mario Pašalić, who fired wide with only Gordon to beat. Instead, the impressive Ben Doak saw an effort parried by the goalkeeper four minutes from time with McGinn ramming home the loose ball to deny Croatia a last-eight spot.
Spain secured top spot at Parken, where Ayoze Pérez hit the crossbar before setting up Mikel Oyarzabal’s 15th-minute strike to put La Roja ahead.
Pérez slotted in from Dani Olmo’s pass in the 58th minute, but home substitute Gustav Isaksen drilled against a post before dispossessing David Raya to reply with six minutes remaining. Second-placed Denmark could not find a late leveller in their first home match under Brian Riemer though.
Switzerland were relegated from League A after this draw in Zurich. The first half ended goalless despite chances at both ends – Noah Okafor hitting the crossbar and Eray Cömert sliding in to block Dušan Vlahović at the other end.
Aleksandar Mitrović was then denied a 60th international goal as Gregor Kobel reacted smartly to save his 55th-minute penalty before Đorđe Petrović parried Zeki Amdouni’s close-range drive to delay the opener.
An undeterred Amdouni beat Petrović in the 79th minute, curling a half-volley into the far corner but, with Switzerland on the cusp of a vital win, Aleksa Terzić applied the finishing touch to a sweeping Serbia counter in the 88th minute.
Northern Ireland maintained their two-point advantage over Bulgaria in Group C3 – one of those nations will be promoted on Matchday 6.
Nicola Nanni’s added-time penalty denied Gibraltar promotion from League D and kept San Marino in the hunt.
Friday’s results
Portugal 5-1 Poland
Scotland 1-0 Croatia
Denmark 1-2 Spain
Switzerland 1-1 Serbia
Cyprus 2-1 Lithuania
Romania A-A Kosovo
Luxembourg 0-1 Bulgaria
Northern Ireland 2-0 Belarus
San Marino 1-1 Gibraltar
Sandro Tonali’s close-range finish booked Italy’s top-two spot in Group A2, ending Belgium’s quarter-final hopes in the process. The midfielder registered his first Azzurri goal in the 11th minute, applying the finishing touch after some neat link-up play between Nicolò Barella and Giovanni Di Lorenzo. Belgium upped the tempo after half-time but could not find a way through as Wout Faes grazed the post with a header and Gianluigi Donnarumma made some crucial saves.
France qualified for the quarter-finals despite being frustrated by a fine performance from Israel goalkeeper Daniel Peretz in Saint-Denis. Captain for the night N’Golo Kanté was kept out in the first half and forward Randal Kolo Muani twice came close. Peretz kept his best save for last, though, reacting superbly to push away a close-range strike from Warren Zaïre-Emery and help Israel to their first point.
England took control of Group B2 with an impressive win in Athens, giving them a head-to-head advantage over Greece, who are also on 12 points. Ollie Watkins tapped in an early opener but England needed three key saves from Jordan Pickford before Jude Bellingham’s shot hit the post and went in off home goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos in the second half. Curtis Jones flicked in a delightful back-heel to seal the result on his first senior start.
Kazakhstan were relegated to League C after suffering a 2-0 defeat at home to Austria, who moved top of Group B3 through Christoph Baumgartner’s finish and Michael Gregoritsch’s curling free-kick.
Evan Ferguson earned the Republic of Ireland a 1-0 win in Dublin, cementing Finland’s place at the bottom of Group B2.
North Macedonia sealed promotion to League B as they defeated Latvia 1-0 in Skopje, Nikola Serafimov scoring the only goal.
Thursday’s results
Belgium 0-1 Italy
France 0-0 Israel
Greece 0-3 England
Republic of Ireland 1-0 Finland
Kazakhstan 0-2 Austria
Slovenia 1-4 Norway
Armenia 0-1 Faroe Islands
North Macedonia 1-0 Latvia
Saturday’s fixtures
Germany vs Bosnia and Herzegovina
Netherlands vs Hungary
Georgia vs Ukraine
Albania vs Czechia
Montenegro vs Iceland
Türkiye vs Wales
Azerbaijan vs Estonia
Sweden vs Slovakia
D2 Andorra vs Moldova
