KEYSTONE
Portugal become the fifth team to secure a place in the Nations League quarter-finals after Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Denmark and Croatia will have to be patient.
The Portuguese secured their progress and victory in Group 1 with a 5:1 win over Poland in front of their home crowd. All the goals were scored in the second half. Among others, superstar Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice and Bruno Fernandes with a magnificent long-range shot.
Due to Poland’s defeat, a point against Scotland in the other match of the group would have been enough for Croatia to qualify for the quarter-finals. For a long time, it looked as if Luka Modric and his team-mates would achieve this – despite being short-handed for a long time following a yellow card against Petar Sucic. Only four minutes before the end did John McGinn score for the home team at Hampden Park in Glasgow. So everything is still wide open behind Portugal in the battle for a second quarter-final ticket.
Spain remained unbeaten for the 15th time in a row. The European champions and reigning Nations League winners only had to tremble briefly on their visit to Copenhagen. Captain Mikel Oyarzabal after a quarter of an hour and Ayoze Perez after just under an hour gave the Iberians a 2-0 lead. The Danish team’s goal through Gustav Isaksen came too late. As a result, Denmark and Serbia will go head-to-head for second place in the Swiss group on the final matchday.
SDA
Swiss
