Spain Advance to Nations League Quarters, Portugal Held by Scotland

European champions Spain secured their place in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals with a dominant 3-0 victory over Serbia on Tuesday. While Spain cruised to victory, Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw against Scotland.

Spain, the reigning Nations League champions, became the second team to secure a spot in the quarter-finals, following Germany, by collecting 10 points from a possible 12 in Group A4. Despite missing key players Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams, who starred in Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph, La Roja still delivered a strong performance. Aymeric Laporte opened the scoring with an early header, and although Alvaro Morata missed a penalty early in the second half, he redeemed himself by making it 2-0 with a well-taken finish at the 65-minute mark. Alex Baena added a third from a free-kick, sealing the win. Serbia finished with 10 men after Strahinja Pavlovic was sent off.

“We’re in another final phase, which is important — it might seem easy, but we’ve consistently reached these final stages in recent years, and that deserves credit,” said Morata to state broadcaster TVE.

Elsewhere in Group A4, Denmark remains in a good position to advance after a 2-2 draw against Switzerland, who currently sit at the bottom of the group. Denmark twice came from behind, with Gustav Isaksen quickly canceling out Remo Freuler’s opener, and Christian Eriksen securing a point with a goal in the second half.

In Group A1, Portugal dropped points for the first time after being held to a goalless draw by Scotland at Hampden Park. Cristiano Ronaldo, making his 200th start for Portugal, couldn’t add to his tally of 133 international goals and left the field visibly frustrated after full-time. Despite creating several chances, including a late effort by Bruno Fernandes that was saved by Scotland goalkeeper Craig Gordon, Portugal couldn’t find the breakthrough. The result ended Scotland’s four-game losing streak in competitive matches, but they have only managed one win in their last 16 matches, a friendly against Gibraltar.

Croatia, sitting second in the group behind Portugal, played out a thrilling 3-3 draw with Poland in Warsaw. Five goals were scored in a frantic first half, with Piotr Zielinski giving Poland the lead before Croatia hit back with goals from Borna Sosa, Petar Sucic, and Martin Baturina. Nicola Zalewski pulled one back for Poland just before halftime, and Sebastian Szymanski secured a draw with a stunning second-half strike. Croatia finished with 10 men after goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic was sent off for a foul on Robert Lewandowski.

In League C action, Northern Ireland went top of Group 3 with a resounding 5-0 victory over Bulgaria in Belfast. Isaac Price, the 21-year-old from Standard Liege, scored a hat-trick, becoming the youngest player to achieve the feat for Northern Ireland since David Healy in 2007. An own goal by Bulgaria’s goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov and a late strike from Josh Magennis completed the rout, while Bulgaria’s captain Kiril Despodov missed a penalty.

In other League C matches, Belarus and Luxembourg drew 1-1, while Romania and Kosovo secured wins against Lithuania and Cyprus, respectively, in Group C2.

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