MADRID, 20 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Portuguese soccer team maintained its good start to the qualifying phase for Euro 2024 after beating Iceland 0-1 with much suffering, with a key goal from Cristiano Ronaldo in added time to celebrate his record of 200 caps.
In Reykjavik, Portugal struggled to join France and England on full points after four games played. Iceland defended with order and neutralized Roberto Martínez’s men, who found no relief until minute 88.
There, the Portuguese team was already playing with numerical superiority due to the expulsion in the 81st minute of Willum Thor Willumsson, but they had to wait to find the prize, with their goalscorer ready in the area to execute a great assist from Goncalo Inacio’s header.
VAR added to the suspense, but ultimately conceded the three-pointer to leave Portugal top of Group J with 12 points and a two-point lead over Slovakia, who could only narrowly beat Liechtenstein thanks to Vavro’s goal on the edge of the field. rest. With seven, a surprising Luxembourg that won as a visitor (0-2) to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
For its part, in Group A, that of Spain, waiting for the end of Scotland-Georgia, which did not resume until after 10:15 p.m. after being suspended shortly after the start due to the weather with 1-0 in favor of The locals, Norway added their first win by beating Cyprus 3-0, with a double by Erling Haaland, and is placed one point ahead of the ‘Red’, but with two more games.
In addition, in F, Austria continues as the leader ahead of Belgium after neither failed in their respective duels, so the first continues with a three-point advantage, although with one more game to its credit.
The Austrian team defeated Sweden 2-0 in a direct duel with a double in the final stretch by Baumgartner, while the Belgian beat Estonia 3-0 in Tallinn, led by a double by Romelu Lukaku to defuse the tension after the uncertainty for the departure of Thibaut Courtois from the concentration.
In Group E, the Czech Republic, despite not playing, remains in the lead in a day that left the surprise defeat of Poland in Moldova by 3-2 despite the fact that they were leading 0-2, with a goal from Robert Lewandowski , at rest. Albania took advantage of this to get within a point of the Czechs by beating the Faroe Islands 3-1.
Finally, in Group G, Hungary and Serbia are in the lead, tied at seven points. The Hungarians beat Lithuania 2-0 and took the opportunity to catch up with the Serbs, who avoided defeat in Bulgaria thanks to a goal from Lazovic in the 97th minute.