Portugal were brought crashing back down to earth, losing 2-0 to Switzerland in Basel.
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In Group B Euro 2016 Champions Portugal went to Switzerland and were two down after 45 minutes to goals from Embolo and Mehmedi.
A star-studded line-up including Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezmann and Olivier Giroud were frustrated time and time again by a resolute Belarus defence.
Olivier Giroud, Antoine Griezmann and Raphael Varane all went close to finding the net for Didier Deschamps’ men, who were widely expected to make short work of a side sitting 63 places below them in the Federation Internationale de Football Association rankings. “This time we failed to capitalise”.
Also in Group A, the Netherlands – who failed to qualify for the Euros – did well to battle out a 1-1 draw in Sweden.
Meanwhile, Group C produced the most emphatic results, with Bosnia-Herzegovina thumping Estonia 5-0, Greece winning 4-1 in Gibraltar and Belgium prevailing 3-0 in Cyprus.
Marcelo Nascimento da Costa then got the hosts level before Ivelin Popov fire them ahead, with Florian Bohnert equalising in added time only for Tonev to snatch a late victor.
On Monday, Armando Sadiku gave Albania the lead in the ninth minute before Ezgjan Alioski levelled for Macedonia six minutes into the second half. Michy Batshuayi missed a late penalty but it was a positive start for Roberto Martinez’s men. In the final set to win numerous host country, however, the French fell face in the dirt, losing the final against Portugal 1: 0. They are 1 point below Panama.
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In the other matchers minnows the Faroe Islands held the mighty Hungary to a 0-0 draw. Spain thrashed Liechtenstein 8-0 while Italy won 3-1 in Israel. It was a commendable draw for the Faroes and they nearly snatched all three points when Hallur Hansson hit the post with less than five minutes remaining.
