Portugal, France clinch spots for World Cup ’18
paris — Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal and Antoine Griezmann’s France booked spots at the 2018 World Cup finals on Tuesday.
Portugal defeated Switzerland 2-0 in Lisbon thanks to a Johan Djourou own goal and an Andre Silva strike.
France needed goals from Griezmann and Olivier Giroud in a hard- fought 2-1 win over Belarus at the Stade de France.
After a stuttering campaign, France’s achievement in beating Bulgaria and Belarus in their final two qualifiers means they avoid the playoffs having had to go through that route for the last two finals.
“We have had a difficult route and tonight wasn’t easy either but we’ve achieved our aim,” coach Didier Deschamps said.
“We are happy, even if qualifying is logical given the quality of the players I have.”
Giroud said he was delighted to have avoided the tension of the playoffs. “We’re all relieved tonight to have ended the campaign with automatic qualification,” the Arsenal forward said.
“We chased this game and it wasn’t easy because they were strong and efficient in attack until the final whistle and we had to roll up our sleeves.”
Ronaldo, who was injured for the opening qualifying defeat in Basel, returned to the Portuguese line-up after coming off the bench to notch the opening goal in a lacklustre 2-0 win in Andorra on Saturday.
US pop star Madonna was among the crowd at the Estadio da Luz which erupted when Djourou inadvertently bundled in a dangerous cross from Eliseu four minutes before the break under heavy pressure from Joao Mario.
Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva then exchanged passes with former Monaco teammate Joao Moutinho, threading through the return pass for an unmarked Andre Silva to poke in at the far post.
“We’ve never pretended to be the best in the world, but we’re capable of going head to head against any opponents,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said.
Greece locked up second place behind Belgium in Group H courtesy of a 4-0 stroll against Gibraltar.
In Paris, Deschamps paired Atletico Madrid striker Griezmann with Giroud’s aerial threat, and Griezmann eased nerves in the 27th minute as he opened the scoring with a confident low finish from Blaise Matuidi’s deft pass.—