Cristiano Ronaldo blanks, Erling Haaland scores twice: Portugal and Norway start Nations League successfully

Cristiano Ronaldo began the new Nations League season with defending champions Portugal in an uninspired but successful manner.

Even without a goal from the 41-year-old forward, the two-time Nations League winner secured a 1-0 victory against Wales in the debut of new coach Jorge Jesus. Erling Haaland's Norwegians, along with Austria and Greece, who are next up for Germany, also celebrated wins.

Ronaldo, who had considered retiring from the national team after the World Cup exit last summer, was in Jesus's starting lineup against Wales. Jesus had previously worked with the star forward at club level for Al-Nassr. While pursuing his 1000th career goal (currently 979), Ronaldo missed several chances. One potential goal was disallowed due to an offside position (59th minute). Joao Felix (22nd minute) scored the decisive goal in Lisbon.

In the parallel match of Group A4, the surprise team of the World Cup, Norway, once again triumphed thanks to Haaland, winning 3-2 against Denmark. The Norwegians, who reached the quarterfinals in North America, won the Scandinavian derby with a goal from Oscar Bobb (14th minute) and a brace from Haaland (18th and 74th minutes). Denmark had fought back with goals from Mikkel Damsgaard (25th minute) and Rasmus Höjlund (60th minute).

In Austria's 3-1 victory (1-0) in Group B3, Saied Abu Farchi of Israel provided the evening's most unusual moment. The forward scored an equalizer with a header (55th minute) but received a yellow-red card moments later for removing a corner flag during his celebration. Ralf Rangnick's team had taken the lead thanks to former Bremen player Romano Schmid (43rd minute, penalty) and capitalized on their numerical advantage late in the game, with Philipp Mwene (90th minute) and Sasa Kalajdzic (90+3 minute) sealing an important home win.

In Germany's Group A2, Greece celebrated a late victory. The next opponent for coach Jürgen Klopp's team on Sunday (8:45 PM CET/ARD) came from behind after a poor start. Former Düsseldorf player Christos Tzolis (74th minute) and Tassos Douvikas (90+4 minute) turned the game around, securing a 2-1 (0-1) win against Serbia.