UEFA Nations League Matchday 2 Sunday highlights and round-up: Ten-man Spain triumph, Ronaldo sinks Scotland

Ten-man Spain impressed in Switzerland as they clinched their first victory of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League on a night when veteran duo Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modrić buried the decisive goals for Portugal and Croatia respectively.

UEFA.com rounds up the Sunday action after Matchday 2 also kicked off with a second win in two games for Denmark.

Switzerland 1-4 Spain

The holders secured a comprehensive victory despite being reduced to ten men midway through the first half. Joselu's looping header and a Fabián Ruiz strike put Spain in command early on, before Robin Le Normand was dismissed for impeding Breel Embolo. The hosts' numerical advantage paid off when Zeki Amdouni pounced from close range just before the interval, but they were unable to convert possession into an equaliser after the break.

With the Nati hunting for a second goal, Spain hit them on the counter twice in the space of four minutes late on, with Fabián Ruiz getting his second of the evening via a neat finish from substitute Ferran Torres' cross, before the replacement added a fourth himself after being sent clear by Joselu.

Portugal 2-1 Scotland

Ronaldo came off the bench to score a second successive Nations League winner as Portugal fought back to defeat Scotland. Following Thursday's late 3-2 loss to Poland, Steve Clarke's side began well and went ahead with their only chance of the first half as Scott McTominay headed in his tenth goal in his last 17 internationals from Kenny McLean's cross.

Having spurned several chances in response, Portugal finally levelled after the restart when Bruno Fernandes struck on his 30th birthday and in his 600th career game. Ronaldo then pounced two minutes from the end to keep up the 2018/19 Nations League champions' 100% record in the current edition.

Croatia 1-0 Poland

A stunning Modrić free-kick gave Croatia their first three points of the campaign. The Croatia captain celebrates his 39th birthday tomorrow, yet he showed no signs of ageing in a masterclass of distribution and creativity.

The hosts dominated the early possession and Igor Matanović had a series of first-half attempts, but it took them until the 52nd minute to break the deadlock against a solid Poland defence, with Modrić curling a set piece over the visitors' wall and into the top-left corner of Łukasz Skorupski's goal.

Although Poland pushed for an equaliser in an open second half, and Robert Lewandowski hit the woodwork, Croatia ultimately did enough to see out the victory.

Denmark 2-0 Serbia

The hosts made it two wins in four days with a dominant performance in Copenhagen. Albert Grønbæk, on only his second appearance for Denmark, made the breakthrough in the 36th minute via a well-placed finish after a neat exchange of passes with Yussuf Poulsen.

That opener was a fine team goal, but the second was a spectacular individual effort, Poulsen brilliantly dispatching Victor Kristiansen's cross with an overhead kick. Saša Lukić miscued from close range with the best chance for the visitors, who remain on a single point from their first two games in the section.

Best of the rest

• Viktor Gyökeres struck his first international double to help Sweden keep pace with Slovakia at the top of Group C1, Jon Dahl Tomasson's side beating ten-man Estonia 3-0 after Slovakia dispatched Azerbaijan 2-0.
• Belarus and Bulgaria lead the way on four points apiece in Group C3 after both triumphed, Kiril Despodov's fifth goal in his last eight Bulgaria outings making the difference against Northern Ireland while Belarus prevailed in Luxembourg.
• There was drama aplenty in the sole League D fixture as Gibraltar and Liechtenstein drew 2-2, James Scanlon putting hosts Gibraltar ahead on 97 minutes only for Nicolas Hasler to equalise with a 104th-minute penalty.

All Sunday's results

A1 Croatia 1-0 Poland, Portugal 2-1 Scotland
A4 Denmark 2-0 Serbia, Switzerland 1-4 Spain
C1 Slovakia 2-0 Azerbaijan, Sweden 3-0 Estonia
C3 Luxembourg 0-1 Belarus, Bulgaria 1-0 Northern Ireland
D1 Gibraltar 2-2 Liechtenstein

Monday's fixtures

A2 France vs Belgium, Israel vs Italy
B3 Norway vs Austria, Slovenia vs Kazakhstan
B4 Montenegro vs Wales, Türkiye vs Iceland
C2 Cyprus vs Kosovo (18:00), Romania vs Lithuania

Tuesday's fixtures

A3 Hungary vs Bosnia and Herzegovina,  Netherlands vs Germany
B1 Albania vs Georgia, Czechia vs Ukraine
B2 England vs Finland, Republic of Ireland vs Greece
C4 Latvia vs Faroe Islands (18:00), North Macedonia vs Armenia
D2 Andorra vs Malta

All kick-offs 20:45 CET unless stated.