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Portugal beaten, France held
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WITH Cristiano Ronaldo still missing due to injury, European champion Portugal began its bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia with a 0-2 defeat in Switzerland on Tuesday.
Goals seven minutes apart in the first half from teenage sensation Breel Embolo and Admir Mehmedi gave the Swiss the points at the St Jakob-Park in Basel as they got off to the ideal start in qualifying Group B.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Euro 2016 runner-up France also showed signs of a hangover from its summer exertions as Les Bleus were held to a 0-0 draw in Belarus in Group A, while the Netherlands came from behind to draw 1-1 in Sweden.
Former Everton boss Roberto Martinez’s first competitive match as coach of Belgium ended in a 3-0 win in Cyprus.
Ronaldo was one of three Portuguese players to have started the 1-0 extra-time triumph against France on July 10 who was absent from the away starting line-up in Basel, with Renato Sanches also sidelined and Joao Mario only on the bench.
In the same section, Hungary was held to a 0-0 draw in the Faroe Islands while Valerijs Sabala’s second-half goal gave Latvia a 1-0 victory in Andorra.
France has had problems against Belarus in the recent past, including taking just one point against the former Soviet Republic in Euro 2012 qualifying.
Paul Pogba, the world’s most expensive player, started for the visitors in Borisov, but coach Didier Deschamps made six changes to the side that lost the European Championship final, leaving Dimitri Payet on the bench. It didn’t help as Belarus goalkeeper Andrei Gorbunov was at his very best.
In the same group, Bulgaria beat Luxembourg 4-3 in a frantic finish in Sofia, with Aleksandar Tonev netting a stoppage-time winner.
Martinez’s Belgium got off to a fine start against Cyprus in Group H with Romelu Lukaku scoring a brace and Yannick Carrasco also on target.
In the same group, Bosnia and Herzegovina trounced Estonia 5-0, while Greece won 4-1 against Gibraltar in the minnows’ first ever World Cup match.
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