Euro 2024: Portugal cruise into next round, Belgium notch first victory

There were no goals, one assist and no less than four selfie-pursuing field invaders for Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal’s 3-0 win over Türkiye that secured a spot in the European Championship round of 16 on Sunday (NZ time).

Ronaldo was the centre of attention as always at Westfalenstadion but not how he might have expected.

The five-time world player of the year set up the third goal by Bruno Fernandes with an unselfish pass when he could easily have attempted a shot after being played clean through.

Then there was chaos as three fans got on the field at different times in the second half and attempted selfies with Ronaldo. He accepted the first but looked unhappy at the other two.

Another phone-waving supporter, wearing a Portugal jersey, got to Ronaldo moments after the final whistle and security had to hold back another person attempting to confront one of the most famous sports stars in the world as he walked off the field with his teammates.

Ronaldo might be more unhappy at failing to score against a Türkiye team that was its own worst enemy at times.

Not least in the 28th minute when, trailing 1-0 to Bernardo Silva’s strike seven minutes earlier, Turkey centre back Samet Akaydin delivered a back-pass that rolled to the side of his goalkeeper and straight into the net.

Portugal backed up its opening 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic and has qualified with a match to spare from Group F.

Elsewhere, Kevin De Bruyne scored as Belgium got its European Championship campaign up and running after beating Romania 2-0.

The No 3-ranked Belgians shook off the shock of losing to Slovakia in their opening game with a dominant performance in front of the Belgium royal family at Cologne Stadium.

Youri Tielemans gave Belgium a flying start with a goal from the edge of the area in the second minute.

De Bruyne effectively killed the game off in the 80th after converting direct from Belgium goalkeeper Koen Casteels’ long kick.

All four teams in Group E have three points, meaning there is all to play for in the final round of games on Thursday (NZ time).