The concluding match of Group J in the EURO 2024 qualifiers between Portugal and Iceland ended with a comfortable 2-0 victory for the home team, helping Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates maintain a flawless record of 10 wins to secure the top spot in the group.
Goals Portugal: Bruno Fernandes (37′), Horta (66′)
Before entering the final match of the qualifiers, Portugal had already secured the top spot and a ticket to Germany next summer. However, Roberto Martinez’s squad was determined to achieve a “perfect 10” by maintaining their unbeaten record in the qualifiers.
This was evident as Coach Martinez fielded the strongest lineup with players like Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Felix, and Joao Palhinha, among others. This helped the home team dominate, controlling 78% of the ball in the first half and registering 15 shots, with six on target. However, it wasn’t until the 37th minute that the deadlock was broken.
Joao Felix had two attempts blocked by the visiting defense, while Goncalo Inacio and Ronaldo’s headers missed the target closely. Finally, Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring with a shot from inside the penalty area.
The second half followed a similar pattern, with goalkeeper Hakon Valdimarsson continuing to play excellently, denying Ronaldo’s goal-scoring opportunities before substitute Ricardo Horta increased the lead to 2-0 with a counter-attack in the 66th minute. Instead of scoring, Ronaldo played the role of an assist in the home team’s goal.
The score could have been higher if goalkeeper Valdimarsson had not made crucial saves to deny chances from Joao Cancelo and Raphael Guerreiro. Meanwhile, Iceland also had reasons for regret as the crossbar denied them a goal in injury time. In the end, Portugal secured a 2-0 victory to conclude the campaign with a perfect 30 points, scoring 36 goals and conceding only 2. The away team finished in 4th place for Iceland with only 10 points.
Notable statistics
With 10 wins in 10 matches, Portugal went through the EURO qualifiers without a loss for the first time in history.
Iceland’s total of 10 points makes this their worst EURO qualifying campaign since their attempt to qualify for EURO 2012.
Starting Lineups:
Portugal: Costa; Mario, Dias, Inacio, Cancelo; Silva, Otavio, Fernandes, Palhinha, Felix; Ronaldo
Iceland: Valdimarsson; Hermannsson, Thorarinsson, Ingason, Palsson; Sigurdsson, Johannesson, Willumsson; Thorsteinsson, Finnbogason, Gudmundsson
