(VIDEO) Cristiano Ronaldo was absent, but Bruno Fernandes saved Portugal vs Iceland

Portugal are one of the best teams in Europe right now. After the failure at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, where they were eliminated in the quarterfinals against Morocco, Roberto Martinez arrived to be the new coach and quickly managed to give the team a style of his own.

Since then everything has gone well for them: they dominated group J of the Euro 2024 qualifiers winning all nine matches they played and quickly secured their place in the tournament to be held next summer in Germany. And now they have just one test left: this Sunday's match at Lisbon's Jose Alvalade stadium against Iceland.

So far they are living up to expectations. Portugal went into halftime leading 1-0 thanks to a beautiful goal by Bruno Fernandes after 37 minutes. The Manchester United midfielder received a pass from Bernardo Silva and, close to the box line, settled the ball with a soft touch and then shot with great power and precision with his right foot, looking for the far post. The reaction of goalkeeper Hákon Rafn Valdimarsson was not enough to prevent the ball from going in.

Roberto Martinez's team found the opener despite the fact that their best player, Cristiano Ronaldo, did not show a great performance. During the first half he did not have much participation and barely touched the ball a few times. In addition, Iceland's solid defensive resistance made his job difficult.

Can he make it?

Despite his 38 years, Cristiano Ronaldo is still one of the best players in the world. In fact, he is Portugal's top scorer and has scored 10 goals in the last 8 games. But that's not all: he is also the third top scorer in the world for 2023. With 46 goals, he is only 2 behind Erling Haaland and Harry Kane. That's why he will do his best to score during the second half against Iceland.