Football
ESPN staff 8y

Switzerland surprise Portugal as Sweden and Netherlands play to draw

Switzerland handed European champions Portugal a 2-0 defeat to begin their World Cup qualifying campaign on Tuesday.

Playing without the injured Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal fell behind after 23 minutes when keeper Rui Patricio parried Ricardo Rodriguez's free kick into the path of Breel Embolo.

And the hosts doubled their advantage seven minutes later when Haris Seferovic cut the ball back from the end line for Admir Mehmedi to score from the centre of the box.

The closest Portugal came to finding a goal came in the 81st minute, when Nani somehow managed to put a free header from close range off the woodwork.

Arsenal's Granit Xhaka was sent off in stoppage time for Switzerland, but the result was already in hand.

In Group A, Sweden began life after Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a 1-1 draw with Netherlands.

Marcus Berg scored the opener for Sweden two minutes before half-time by dispossessing Kevin Strootman and instantly chipping keeper Jeroen Zoet from 19 yards out.

But the Dutch found a lifeline for embattled boss Danny Blind with Wesley Sneijder's 67th-minute equaliser. Daryl Janmaat's low shot forced a diving save from Robin Olsen, and the ball came back out for Sneijder to score into the opposite corner.

Sneijder had a chance to win it four minutes from time with a shot from nearly the same spot on the pitch, but this time Olsen smothered the strike.

And Bas Dost thought he had headed home a stoppage time winner, but the goal was ruled out for a debatable foul in the buildup.

Also in Group A, Euro 2016 runners-up France also had a disappointing day as Les Bleus could only manage a goalless draw at Belarus.

Olivier Giroud hit the crossbar with a header in the 58th minute and France were denied on a number of near chances in the second half.

Bulgaria escaped from multiple second-half scares to win 4-3 over Luxembourg in Group A.

Dimitar Rangelov's powerful strike from distance gave Bulgaria the lead in the 16th minute, before Luxembourg's Aurelien Joachim found a pair of goals in a three-minute span after the hour mark to give the visitors a shock lead.

The advantage lasted less than three minutes, however, as Marcelinho's header found a way through traffic after the corner to draw Bulgaria level, and Ivelin Popov put the hosts back in front on 79 minutes with a free kick over the wall.

Florian Bohnert scored an equaliser with a worthy volley in the 90th minute, only for Aleksandar Tonev to lash home the winner for Bulgaria a minute later.

Romelu Lukaku scored twice as Roberto Martinez won his first competitive game in charge of Belgium, a 3-0 win at Cyprus in Group H.

Lukaku gave Belgium the lead after 13 minutes when goalkeeper Konstantinos Panagiotoudis pushed Thomas Meunier's deflected shot onto the crossbar, but the striker reacted quickly to head home.

And Lukaku was again on hand to head home after a Panagiotoudis save to add Belgium's second in the 61st minute, before Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco found the visitors' third goal nine minutes from time from an Eden Hazard assist.

Also in Group H, Greece scored three times in quick succession just before half-time to defeat Gibraltar 4-1 in the minnows' first-ever World Cup qualifier.

Kostas Mitroglou gave Greece the lead on 10 minutes with a leaping volley from the top of the 18-yard-box.

Gibraltar hit back through Liam Walker, who was given plenty of room to enter the box from the wing and curled a fine shot inside the far post.

But a 44th-minute Scott Wiseman own goal was followed in short order by goals from Konstantinos Fortounis and Vasilios Torosidis before the break.

Emir Spahic scored twice as Bosnia-Herzegovina began with a 5-0 home win over Estonia.

The hosts took the lead after seven minutes as Spahic saw his close-range header saved, but it fell right back to him to head home on the second attempt.

Edin Dzeko added the second goal from the penalty spot after Ragnar Klavan's late challenge on the striker in the 23rd minute.

Haris Medunjanin scored with a volley following a corner to make it 3-0, before Vedad Ibisevic added a fourth with seven minutes remaining and Spahic got his second of the day late on.

In the other games in Switzerland and Portugal's group B, Valerijs Sabala's looping header gave Latvia a 1-0 win at Andorra, while Faroe Islands held Hungary to a goalless draw.

In Group G, Albania scored a late goal to earn a 2-1 win over Macedonia in a game that began on Monday.

The sides were level in the 78th minute when heavy rains forced the game to be suspended, and when they resumed a day later Bekim Balaj found the 89th-minute winner with a header following a long free kick.

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