Ronaldo-less Portugal beat Norway 2-1 to reach Nations League quarterfinals

Holders Portugal first team to qualify for 2026-27 UEFA Nations League despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence.Portugal defeated Norway 2-1 on Sunday, without superstar striker Cristiano Ronaldo, to qualify for the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals.Goncalo Ramos secured victory for Jorge Jesus’s Portugal in the Group A4 clash after Joao Cancelo’s rocket levelled Kristoffer Ajer’s stunning opener for Norway.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4‘Verbal attack’: Israeli reporters interrupt Ireland news conferencelist 2 of 4Man City’s Cavan Sullivan becomes youngest US international goalscorerlist 3 of 4Man City whistleblower Pinto says he ‘received death threats’ over leakslist 4 of 4FC Barcelona accused of corruption in Negreira case: All you need to knowend of listPortugal played out the final minutes with 10 men after Francisco Conceicao was dismissed for two yellow cards in the space of a few seconds for dissent following his unsuccesful appeal for a penalty.Former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker Ronaldo walked out on the squad on Wednesday, ahead of the previous game against Denmark, after Portugal’s all-time top goalscorer learned he would not start.Portugal are now guaranteed to finish in the top two spots in the group, thus granting them passage to the last eight in March 2027.Norway took the lead in Porto against the run of play with a stunning effort from Brentford defender Ajer after 36 minutes.The Norwegian met a bouncing ball on the edge of the box perfectly and bent it into the top corner.However, two minutes later, Barcelona defender Cancelo scored a similarly superb goal, rifling home from about 20 yards.Manchester City striker Erling Haaland fired across the face of goal after an hour and was replaced by Jorgen Strand Larsen a few minutes later.Nations League holders and two-time record champions Portugal nosed in front when AC Milan striker Ramos, starting in place of Ronaldo, tucked home from close range after being teed up by Joao Felix.