{"id":171479,"date":"2025-06-09T23:23:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T23:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/171479\/"},"modified":"2025-06-09T23:23:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T23:23:12","slug":"portugal-beat-spain-to-win-nations-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/171479\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal beat Spain to win Nations League"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n MUNICH:<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ruben Neves scored the decisive spot kick after Alvaro Morata missed as Portugal beat Spain 5-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw in Munich on Sunday to claim their second Nations League title.<\/p>\n

Portugal twice went behind in regulation time but twice fought back to level the scores.<\/p>\n

“Our fighting spirit and togetherness were decisive today,” Bruno Fernandes, who converted his penalty, told RTL.<\/p>\n

“When we stay together like this, we’re very difficult to beat.”<\/p>\n

After 21 minutes, Martin Zubimendi took advantage of some sleepy Portugal defence to put Spain in front.<\/p>\n

The brilliant Nuno Mendes levelled things up five minutes later.<\/p>\n

Mikel Oyarzabal, Spain’s goalscorer in the Euro 2024 final and the 2023 Nations League final, put La Roja back in front just before the break.<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo, quiet as he had been before scoring the winner against Germany in the semis, equalised with 61 minutes gone, adjusting quickly after a Mendes cross was deflected into the air, muscling past Marc Cucurella and volleying the dropping ball home.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo was subbed off before full-time with cramp. Even though Portugal had the better of extra time, the match went to penalties.<\/p>\n

Both sides converted their first three spot kicks. Mendes buried Portugal’s fourth, before Morata stepped up and shot straight at Diogo Costa.<\/p>\n

Neves nervelessly converted in front of the red and green of the Portugal fans.<\/p>\n

On the sidelines, Ronaldo could not watch the final penalty, burying his face in a teammate’s back. Once Neves converted, the Portugal veteran fell to his knees and was embraced by players and staff.<\/p>\n

The victory was just Portugal’s second competitive win over Iberian rival Spain in their long history.<\/p>\n

Portugal’s only other win over Spain in a competitive fixture was a 1-0 victory which booted the Spaniards out of Euro 2004, with a 19-year-old Ronaldo on the left wing.<\/p>\n

Portugal became the first two-time winner of the Nations League, launched in 2018. It was Portugal’s third major title, along with Euro 2016.<\/p>\n

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said the match was “equal”.<\/p>\n

“We did a lot well, but in football sometimes things happen and the opponent is able to beat you,” he said.<\/p>\n

Portugal equalise twice<\/p>\n

While Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal’s fluid movement troubled the Portugese defence early in the match, La Roja’s opener was scrappy.<\/p>\n

Yamal chipped from outside the box and the Portugal defence froze, botching a clearance which fell to Zubimendi, who leathered the ball into the net.<\/p>\n

The goal was just rewards for Spain’s early dominance, but Portugal hit back almost immediately.<\/p>\n

Mendes, put through by Pedro Neto, drilled a low shot across the goal and in.<\/p>\n

Just before halftime, Spain picked Portugal’s pocket in their own half before advancing. Pedri linked with Oyarzabal, who threaded the ball past Diogo Costa.<\/p>\n

Oyarzabal’s goal meant he has scored in three international finals — against England at Euro 2024, which Spain won, and the 2023 and 2025 Nations Leagues, which Spain lost.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo had done little other than encourage the heavily Portuguese crowd until that point but would pick his moment to strike.<\/p>\n

With 61 minutes gone, Mendes shed a defender and whipped in a cross. The ball took a deflection and Ronaldo outmuscled Cucurella before lashing a volley home.<\/p>\n

The goal was Ronaldo’s fourth in 10 matches against Spain. The previous three all coming in a wild 3-3 draw at the 2018 World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MUNICH: Ruben Neves scored the decisive spot kick after Alvaro Morata missed as Portugal beat Spain 5-3 on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,2998,104,79],"class_list":{"0":"post-171479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-latest","11":"tag-spain","12":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114655986000296084","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}