Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring his side’s second goal during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Portugal and Croatia at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024. Credit: AP/Armando Franca
Ronaldo, Modric and Lewandowski have combined for 542 national-team games and 239 goals heading into this week.
Spain held
Spain was held to a 0-0 draw at Serbia in its first match since winning Euro 2024. La Roja has been the hottest team in Europe recently, having won the 2023 Nations League, Euro 2024 and the men’s gold medal at the Paris Olympics.
Youngsters Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, the stars at Euro 2024, were kept in check from the start.
Spain has another away game next, against Switzerland in Geneva.
San Marino finally wins
San Marino defeated Liechtenstein 1-0 for its first-ever competitive win thanks to Nicko Sensoli’s 53rd-minute goal.
It had beaten Liechtenstein by the same score in 2004, but in a friendly.
San Marino, a tiny nation surrounded by Italy, is No. 210 — last — in FIFA’s world rankings. Liechtenstein isn’t far ahead at No. 199.
The victory came in Group D1 of the competition.
Other results
Denmark defeated Switzerland 2-0 in Group A4. In League C, Sweden beat Azerbaijan 3-1 and Northern Ireland got past Luxembourg 2-0. Slovakia won 1-0 at Estonia and Belarus and Bulgaria drew 0-0.
The European qualifying groups for the 2026 World Cup will be drawn in Zurich in December, likely with seedings decided by FIFA world rankings updated in November after Nations League group play ends.
Source link : https://www.newsday.com/sports/soccer/spain-portugal-ronaldo-european-qualifiers-x01731
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Publish date : 2024-09-05 07:00:00
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