Cristiano Ronaldo was forced off with an apparent hamstring injury during Portugal’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Serbia, which finished 1-1.
The forward received treatment on the pitch after pulling up midway through the first half but could not continue and was quickly substituted. His Juventus side, who are 15 points clear at the top of Serie A, face Ajax in the Champions League quarter-finals on 10 April, with the return leg in Turin the following week. Elsewhere in Group B, Ukraine edged past Luxembourg 2-1 courtesy of a stoppage-time own-goal from Rodrigues Gouveia.
In Group H, Turkey beat Moldova 4-0, with Everton’s Cenk Tosun scoring twice in between goals from Ali Kaldirim and Kaan Ayhan. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visited the dressing room at the Eskisehir New Stadium to congratulate the home side after the final whistle.
Turkey were later displaced at the top of the group by France, who beat Iceland 4-0. Samuel Umtiti opened the scoring for the world champions before second-half goals from Olivier Giroud, Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann added gloss to the scoreline. “We were very efficient against a very defensive-minded side. It’s a source of great satisfaction,” said the France coach, Didier Deschamps.
Iceland, who have now won only one of their last 17 games, played aggressively but it was not enough to unsettle Les Bleus. “We knew it would be a tough challenge but their early goal made it even tougher,” said their coach, Erik Hamren. “Then when they scored the second we were really in trouble. They’re a top class team.”
Albania moved up to third after winning 3-0 in Andorra.
And in the other game in England’s group Kosovo played their first ever Euro qualifier, a 1-1 draw against Bulgaria in Pristina, with Arber Zeneli equalising for the home side in the second half.