Germany 1 – 2 Portugal
After five consecutive losses and nearly 25 years, Portugal have finally beaten Germany.
It was a sluggish first half for Portugal, capped off by conceding a goal early in the second half. But what a comeback it turned out to be! Francisco Conceição came off the bench and scored a brilliant goal, while Cristiano Ronaldo found the net after missing a few chances. Roberto Martínez’s side defeated Germany on their own turf to reach the UEFA Nations League final.
At the Allianz Arena in Munich on Wednesday night, Portugal — the inaugural champions of the competition — earned a 2-1 victory in the semi-final.
Florian Wirtz gave Germany the lead early in the second half, but Portugal hit back with two goals in five minutes.
This win ended Portugal’s long wait — their last victory over Germany came on June 20, 2000, in the Euro group stage, when they won 3-0.
That game is still remembered for Sérgio Conceição’s iconic hat-trick. Fittingly, his son Francisco played a key role this time, scoring after coming on and earning the Man of the Match award at just 22 years old.
In the first half, Portugal could only manage one shot on target from four attempts. But after the break, they fired 13 shots, with five on target. In contrast, Germany had seven first-half shots (four on target) but managed just two attempts in the entire second half.
Four members of this Portugal squad had played at the same venue just four days earlier, helping PSG crush Inter Milan 5-0 to win the Champions League. Now, they have a chance to win a title in national colors at the same stadium. On Sunday, they’ll face the winner of Thursday’s France vs. Spain semi-final.
Germany had their first chance in the 4th minute, but Bayern Munich midfielder Leon Goretzka failed to get a clean shot inside the box.
Two minutes later, Ronaldo had a golden opportunity. Pedro Neto found the all-time top scorer with a pass from the left, but the 40-year-old’s tame shot was easily stopped by goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen.
In the 19th minute, Germany appealed for a penalty when Aleksandar Pavlović went down in the box, but play continued. Moments later, 23-year-old debutant striker Nick Voigtmader’s shot was blocked by Diogo Costa. Goretzka tested the keeper again two minutes later, but Costa made another fine save.
Ronaldo got another good chance in the second minute of the second half but failed to make proper contact with Nuno Mendes’ excellent cross from the left.
Germany made it count the very next minute. Joshua Kimmich, playing his 100th match for the national team, chipped a clever ball over the defenders, and Wirtz headed it home to send the home fans wild.
But that joy didn’t last long. Within five minutes, Portugal silenced the crowd with two quick goals.
In the 58th minute, just four minutes after coming on, Francisco Conceição equalized with a brilliant strike. He received a pass from Rúben Dias near the right touchline close to midfield, skipped past a defender, and fired a rocket from 20 yards out.
Then came Ronaldo’s moment. Nuno Mendes delivered a low cross from the left, and Ronaldo, positioned just outside the six-yard box, smashed it into the open net.
That was his 137th international goal and his seventh in eight matches in this Nations League campaign. It was only his second-ever goal against Germany.
With just one minute left in regular time, ter Stegen made a stunning double save to keep Germany in the game — first denying Diogo Jota’s close-range shot, then blocking another effort from Conceição. In added time, he stopped a third shot from Jota to prevent the scoreline from growing.
