Portugal left Cristiano Ronaldo at home and lost its unbeaten record in 2022 and the lead of its Nations League group. (More Football News)
A goal after 57 seconds by Switzerland forward Haris Seferovic was enough for a 1-0 win in Geneva despite late pressure by Portugal including two scoring chances for 39-year-old captain Pepe playing as an emerg🐷ency forward.
Portugal's slip, after letting Ronaldo skip the last game of a long season, let Spain take first place in Group 2 ♏with a 2-෴0 win over the Czech Republic in top-tier League A.
Goals midway through each half from Carlos Soler and Pablo Sarabia lifted✨ Spain one point clear of Portugal𓂃 after four rounds. The last two rounds will be played in September.
Portugal had gone unbeaten in five gam🦩es this year starting with two wins in its World Cup qualifying playoffs in March and including a 4-0 rout of the Swiss last weekend.
The Swiss had gone in the other direction with a five-match winless run since qualifying forജ the World Cup ahead of group rival Italy in November.
Portugal barely haജd time to miss Ronaldo, or touch the ball much, when falling behind within one minute. A quick series of passes linked by Xherdan Shaqiri lined up right back Silvan Widmer for a dangerous cross.
It found Seferovic, who plays in Portugal for Benfica, toꩵ guide a header into the ✤far bottom corner of the net.
Shaqiri was preparing to take a penalty kick 10 minutes later, after his cross struck the🍸 hand of left-back Nuno Mendes, but a video review found a foul in the center circle in the buildup.
Starting on the bench after a tiring season in England and the Champions League, Bernardo Silva and Diogo Jota w🐻ere sent on after an hour and within seconds Silva lashed a shot that was pun💛ched clear by Swiss goalkeeper Jonas Omlin.
Omlin imprꦗessed with eight saves though almost gifted Silva a goal in the 67th. His misjudged pass from the g🔯oalmouth rebounded off the Portugal forward close enough to the 'keeper that he could dive on the loose ball.
LEAGUE B
Erling Haaland made i♊t a 42-goal season tally in all competitions by scoring another double against Sweden to lead Norway to a 3-2 win over its Nordic rival.
The striker, who recently signed for Manchester City from Borussia Dortm🌳und, also netted twice against Sweden last Sunday in a 2-1 wi🌞n for Norway in the first of the teams' double-header this month in League B.
A week later in Oslo, Haaland darted in front of a defender to head hom💮e his first goal in the 10th minute and converted a penalty early in the secඣond half to make it 2-0.
Th⛄e 21-year-old star now has 20 goals in 𓃲21 senior international appearances with 13 of them scored this season. Haaland also tallied 29 for Dortmund.
Emil Forsberg curled a shot into the top corner to reduce the deficit for Sweden, only for Haaland to curl over a cross that ♍was met with a farᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ-post header by Alexander Sørloth.
Sweden's second goal, from Viktor Gyökeres, came in ꦉthe fifth and final minute of stoppage time.
Norway le✃ads Group 4 on 10 points, three points clear of Serbia which wasted a two-goal, first-half lead in Slovenia♛ to draw 2-2.
LEAGUES C AND D
A Bulgaria team whose bus was 🃏involved in a road accident crash so꧃on after arriving in Georgia drew 0-0 in Tbilisi.
Midಞfielder Todor Nedelev und🧸erwent a successful operation for a head injury sustained in the crash on Friday.
Georgia leads the third-tier Group 4 by three points from ▨No🅺rth Macedonia which beat last-place Gibraltar 4-0.
Group 2 leader Gre🔯ece beat second-place Kosovo 2-0 to give coach Guy Poyet's team a six-point lead in ജthe standings.
Northern Ireland and Cyprus stayed 𒁏winless in the group and each has two points after their 2-2 draw in Belfast. Defender Jonny Evanꦇs leveled for the hosts deep in stoppage time.
In League D, Malta beat San Marino 1-0.
