Football – UEFA Nations League – Group A2 – Germany v Serbia – Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany – October 1, 2026 Germany’s Tom Bischof and coach Jurgen Klopp applaud fans after the match.
Jurgen Klopp savored his first win as Germany coach and Portugal did just fine without Cristiano Ronaldo in the Nations League on Thursday.
Florian Wirtz starred as Germany defeated Serbia 2-0 in Munich for Klopp’s first win at the third attempt — staving off an unwanted record.
The 59-year-old Klopp was on the verge of becoming the first Germany coach not to win any of his first three games after opening with a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands last week before Sunday’s shock 1-0 defeat to Greece.
But his team produced a disciplined and intensive game against Serbia, illustrating the high-pressure soccer Klopp wants to instill.
“That’s going in my archive. We’ll make a video out of it now,” Klopp said. “That’s how we want to play.”
Derry Scherhant, Nick Woltemade and Serge Gnabry all missed good chances for Germany before Tom Bischof broke the deadlock in the 39th on the rebound after Wirtz struck the post.
Klopp sent on Cologne star Said El Mala for his debut after the break. Goalkeeper Jonas Urbig and Freiburg forward Scherhant were already making their Germany debuts.
But it was Wirtz who made it 2-0 from Maximilian Mittelstädt’s cross, taking it past a defender with his first touch and sending it inside the right post with his next.
“It was important to win again, just for the spirit in the team, and to send a signal out that we’re good football players and also a good football nation,” Wirtz said. “Definitely a step in the right direction.”
Dutch leave it late again
Tijjani Reijnders scored late as the Netherlands fought back to draw 2-2 with Greece in the other Group A2 match — in Thessaloniki.
Fotis Ioannidis scored one goal and set up the other for Greece. Virgil van Dijk netted before the hour mark and Reijnders equalized in the 89th.
The Netherlands also needed a late equalizer against Germany.
Greece remains the surprise leader of Group A2 after away victories over Serbia and Germany.
Portugal moves on from Ronaldo
Joao Felix sealed Portugal’s 4-2 win over Denmark in Copenhagen, where the visitors were without Ronaldo after he walked out on the team the day before after an apparent rift with coach Jorge Jesus. It has fueled speculation it may be the end for the veteran star.
Goncalo Ramos, who has taken the 41-year-old forward’s place, set up Joao Cancelo’s opener, then responded with Portugal’s second goal two minutes after Mikkel Damsgaard equalized in the 23rd.
Rasmus Højlund drew Denmark level again in the 53rd, only for Vitinha to restore Portugal’s lead with a near-post header to Bruno Fernandes’ free kick in the 67th.
Felix made sure of the win in the 87th.
Wales downs Norway
For once, Erling Haaland didn’t score as Wales defeated 10-man Norway 2-1 for its first win in Group A4.
Haaland failed to score for only the second time in his last 18 competitive appearances for his country. He has 65 goals in 58 appearances.
Oscar Bobb got the opener for the visitors in Cardiff, but Daniel James equalized before the break and Norway defender Torbjørn Heggem was sent off for fouling him, before Neco Williams made it 2-1 from the resultant free kick.
Tennis ball protest in Dublin
Protestors calling for Ireland to boycott its upcoming second game against Israel on Sunday interrupted the team’s match against Austria by throwing tennis balls with Palestinian flags onto the field during the first half.
One man with a Palestinian flag tried running onto the field before he was tackled by stewards.
Troy Parrott scored two goals — including a brilliant solo opener — only for Alexander Prass and Michael Gregoritsch to respond in the second half for Austria.
Also, visiting Liechtenstein held Azerbaijan 0-0 earlier in Group D2.
Ronaldo’s Portugal Future in Doubt After Walkout
The international future of Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo hung in the balance after the 41-year-old walked out on the squad after learning that he would not start the game against Denmark on Thursday.
Ronaldo announced late on Wednesday that he had left the team, shortly after a press conference in which coach Jorge Jesus confirmed the five-time Ballon d’Or winner would be left out of his starting line-up for a second consecutive Nations League game.
In his absence, Portugal turned on the style to beat Denmark 4-2.
The former Real Madrid forward had been due to train with his teammates at the Parken Stadium on the eve of the game, but walked out following the announcement by Jesus.
“Following the national team coach’s press conference, and after having a conversation with the Portuguese Football Federation president, I decided to leave the national team’s training camp,” Ronaldo wrote on Instagram.
He had already spent the entirety of Sunday’s 2-1 Nations League win in Norway on the bench, having captained the side in the 1-0 home victory over Wales last Thursday.
Ronaldo appeared to indicate that the reasons behind Jesus’s decision ran deeper, and hinted at a departure from the national team he has graced for more than two decades.
“In due course, I will tell the truth to all the Portuguese people about my reasons for leaving the national team, to which I have always been dedicated,” Ronaldo said.
“Now is time to wish good luck to Portugal and to all my team-mates, without exception.”
Spanish sports daily Marca said that Jesus and Portuguese federation president Pedro Proenca followed Ronaldo to Copenhagen airport in an attempt to persuade him to stay with the squad, before the player boarded his private jet.
Jesus insisted earlier on Wednesday that there was no rift between him and Ronaldo, although the 72-year-old, who was appointed in July, acknowledged that his captain was disappointed to remain on the bench against Norway.
The news sparked a wave of memes on social media and a furious backlash from Ronaldo’s sister, Elma Aveiro.
“They don’t deserve to have the best of anything,” she said about the Portuguese people on Instagram.
“We are envious, scornful, and ignorant, and we deserve to return to the mediocrity that defined us in the pre-CR7 era of football,” she added, using his nickname.
– ‘Players with status’ –
The game in Oslo was the first time since November 2024 that Ronaldo had not featured for Portugal while not being either injured or suspended.
“There was no incident whatsoever,” Jesus, who coached Ronaldo at Saudi club Al-Nassr for a year, insisted after that match.
“Any player — and I was a player myself… when you spend 20 or 30 minutes warming up and then don’t get on… no one is happy about that,” Jesus added on Wednesday.
The Portuguese coach also said that he had told Ronaldo before the match that he might bring him on as a substitute.
“Afterwards, as coach, I decided not to bring him on. It’s nothing to make a fuss about,” Jesus insisted.
After the win on Thursday, Jesus’s press conference was dominated by talk of Ronaldo.
“This Portugal team scored four goals and put in a performance which, in my opinion, was of a very high standard,” he said.
“Of course, this is more important than anything else that has happened.
“I still think exactly the same way: there are players with status. That much is crystal clear,” he added.
“But I’ll say it again: the rules are the same for everyone.”
There were reports that Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro had even discussed the issue of Ronaldo’s involvement with the coach on Wednesday.
Jesus said earlier in the day that against Denmark he again intended to start AC Milan striker Goncalo Ramos, who scored the winner in Norway.
Regarding Ronaldo, he said: “If I need him, he’ll come on. If I don’t need him, he won’t.”
Ronaldo recently announced that this would “probably (be) my last year in football”.
He is Portugal’s leading goalscorer and most capped player, with 146 goals in 234 appearances.
The former Sporting, Manchester United, Real and Juventus striker made his international debut aged 18 in 2003 and played in the Euro 2004 final when Portugal lost to hosts Greece.
He reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2006 and captained his country to glory at Euro 2016.
Ronaldo and Portugal were eliminated by eventual winners Spain in the last 16 of this year’s World Cup.
