PARIS: Cristiano Ronaldo scored as Portugal beat Poland 3-1 for their third straight Nations League win on Saturday, while European champions Spain put an end to Denmark’s perfect start in the competition.
Bernardo Silva volleyed Portugal ahead in the 26th minute in Warsaw as Bruno Fernandes cleverly nodded a cross from Ruben Neves back toward the Manchester City midfielder.
Ronaldo then found himself in the right place at the right time to turn in the rebound for Portugal’s second after Rafael Leao’s shot came back off the post following a brilliant surging run by the AC Milan winger.
The 39-year-old Ronaldo has now struck in all three games of this Nations League campaign for Portugal, taking his record men’s international goals tally to 133.
Piotr Zielinski cut the deficit for Poland but Jan Bednarek’s own goal sealed victory for Portugal, the lone remaining team in League A with a 100 percent record, and they could secure a place in the quarter-finals next week.
Roberto Martinez’s side have a maximum nine points in Group A1, three ahead of Croatia who beat Scotland 2-1 to condemn them to a third successive defeat in the section.
Ryan Christie’s first half-goal gave Scotland a shock lead in Zagreb, but Igor Matanovic equalized before the interval and Andrej Kramaric bagged the winner midway through the second half.
Che Adams thought he had salvaged a stoppage-time equalizer but VAR disallowed his effort for offside, with Scotland winless in nine competitive outings — the longest run in their history.
Spain needed a 79th-minute effort from Martin Zubimendi to shrug off Denmark 1-0 in Murcia and replace their opponents at the top of Group A4.
The hosts were without Rodri and Dani Carvajal, both sidelined by long-term injuries, with first-choice goalkeeper Unai Simon still recovering from wrist surgery, and Dani Olmo and Robin Le Normand also ruled out.
But Luis de la Fuente’s team grabbed the only goal when Zubimendi’s low drive from just outside the edge squirmed past Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who had earlier denied Lamine Yamal and Alvaro Morata.
Spain moved up to seven points, one above Denmark, with Serbia picking up their first win after beating Switzerland 2-0 in Leskovac.
Serbia led through Nico Elvedi’s own goal in first-half stoppage time and Aleksandar Mitrovic doubled the advantage before Predrag Rajkovic saved a penalty from Swiss striker Breel Embolo.
Both games in Group C3 finished goalless as Bulgaria were held at home by Luxembourg and Northern Ireland drew against Belarus on neutral ground in Hungary.
Romania eased to a 3-0 win away to Cyprus in Group C2, while Kosovo beat Lithuania 2-1.
Ronaldo scores in Portugal’s Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
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Ronaldo scores in Portugal’s Nations League win as Spain sink Denmark
- The 39-year-old Ronaldo has now struck in all three games of this Nations League campaign for Portugal, taking his record men’s international goals tally to 133
Mexico to kick off 2026 World Cup against South Africa
- Mexico’s co-hosts the United States and Canada will join the party the next day
- Defending champions Argentina were grouped with Algeria, Austria and debutants Jordan
- Five-times winners Brazil will play Morocco — semifinalists in 2022 — Haiti and Scotland
WASHINGTON: The 2026 World Cup will kick off on June 11 with joint-hosts Mexico playing South Africa at the Azteca Stadium — iconic venue of the 1970 and 1986 finals — followed by South Korea against a playoff winner after the complex draw was made on Friday.
South Africa are appearing for the first time since 2010, when they drew with Mexico in the opening match but failed to reach the knockout stage.
Mexico’s co-hosts the United States and Canada will join the party the next day, against Paraguay and a playoff winner — possibly Italy — respectively in Los Angeles and Toronto.
The draw for the expanded 48-team tournament, with six berths still to be filled via a series of playoffs, was hugely complicated due to various geographical sub-clauses.
However, even the lengthy draw seemed short after an opening ceremony of over an hour that included US President Donald Trump being awarded the new FIFA peace prize.
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS ARGENTINA START AGAINST ALGERIA
Defending champions Argentina were grouped with Algeria, Austria and debutants Jordan, while five-times winners Brazil will play Morocco — semifinalists in 2022 — Haiti and Scotland.
The Scots are appearing in the finals for the first time since 1998, when they lost to Brazil in the opening game, while Haiti’s only previous appearance came in 1974.
France’s first game will be versus Senegal in a repeat of one of the biggest tournament upsets, when the Africans stunned the then-holders in their first game of the 2002 tournament. Norway and one of the playoff winners complete their group.
England will start against Croatia, who beat them in the 2018 semifinals, and also face Panama, who they thrashed 6-1 in the group stage in the same tournament, and Ghana.
Debutants Curacao, with a population of 150,000 making them by far the smallest country ever to reach the finals, face Germany, Ecuador and the Ivory Cost.
World number one-ranked Spain have a dream draw alongside debutants Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
The Netherlands are with Japan, Tunisia and a playoff winner, Belgium have Egypt, Iran and New Zealand, while Portugal face debutants Uzbekistan, Colombia and a playoff winner.
The teams outside the hosts’ groups will have to wait until Saturday to find out the venues and kickoff times for their games after soccer’s world governing body FIFA attempts to optimize them relating to the various worldwide TV markets.
A newly introduced seeding system ensures that the current top four in the world — Spain, holders Argentina, 2022 runners-up France and England — cannot meet until the semifinal stage if they win their groups.
