Cristiano Ronaldo denied by VAR offside call as Joao Felix earns Portugal win

Portugal have begun their Nations League League A Group 4 campaign with a 1-0 win against Wales at the Estadio Jose Alvalade. According to The Athletic, it was a creditable performance from an under-strength Wales side, but the hosts ultimately claimed all three points.

The decisive moment arrived in the 22nd minute when Nuno Mendes advanced with the ball and found Joao Felix unmarked outside the penalty area. Felix unleashed a right-footed shot that took a heavy deflection off Ben Davies, leaving goalkeeper Danny Ward slow to dive and unable to prevent the ball from finding the net.

While Felix celebrated, Cristiano Ronaldo endured a remarkably frustrating evening in front of goal. Ronaldo missed a great chance from close range earlier in the match before Bruno Fernandes disguised a lush ball in behind the Welsh defence in the 59th minute.

Ronaldo slid the ball low into the far corner and thought he had scored his 147th international goal for Portugal. However, his joy was ended swiftly as the goal was disallowed for offside following a VAR check. Consequently, Ronaldo failed to shorten the path to his ultimate target of reaching 1,000 career goals, remaining stuck on 979 goals so far.

Minutes after his disallowed goal, Ronaldo was replaced by Goncalo Ramos in the 67th minute as head coach Roberto Martinez opted to refresh the attacking line. Despite creating two big chances and registering 23 total shots throughout the match, Portugal struggled to kill the game off.

Wales remained resilient defensively, making 15 clearances and 52 recoveries to stay in the contest. Ward made four saves to keep the away side within striking distance, but Wales ultimately lacked the attacking quality to find an equaliser, managing just one shot on target from their five attempts over the course of the match.

Following this narrow victory, Portugal will shift their focus to a crucial clash against Norway on Sunday to decide the group leader. Norway have set up a battle for Group 4 supremacy after securing a 3-2 win over Denmark, led by Erling Haaland.