Joao Felix's deflected first-half strike was enough to give new Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus a winning start as the Selecao opened their Nations League title defence with a 1-0 victory over Wales at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon.

On an evening when Cristiano Ronaldo missed a slew of chances and had a second-half effort ruled out by a VAR intervention, it was his Al Nassr team-mate Joao Felix who settled the contest with a 22nd-minute goal that deflected cruelly off Wales defender Ben Davies.

Felix breaks the deadlock

Portugal started brightly, with Ronaldo dragging an early shot wide before efforts from Vitinha and Felix were blocked by Wales' retreating defence. The hosts had to wait until the 22nd minute for their first shot on target — and it resulted in the only goal of the game. Nuno Mendes skipped beyond Ethan Ampadu before laying the ball off to Felix, who took a touch before seeing his attempt nestle into the bottom-left corner from the edge of the penalty area.

It was Felix's fifth goal in his last 10 starts for the Selecao, teed up by the marauding Mendes, who registered his seventh assist for Portugal since the start of 2024 — third for goal involvements in that time behind Ronaldo (20) and Bruno Fernandes (17).

Ronaldo's night of frustration

Ronaldo was winning cap number 234 after deciding to prolong his international career following a disappointing World Cup, but his contribution ended when he was substituted after 67 minutes. In his quest to reach 1,000 career goals, he volleyed just wide from a tight angle, saw a tame effort comfortably held by Danny Ward, and somehow turned Ruben Neves' cross over the bar from close range with the goal gaping four minutes into the second half.

He thought he had finally got his goal when he raced onto Bruno Fernandes' defence-splitting pass, only for it to be ruled out following a VAR check for offside. Ronaldo ended the night with an expected goals (xG) figure of 1.32 — more than Wales' entire team — having failed to score from any of his seven shots, including a glaring miss from Neves' cross.

Wales fight back but fall short

The manner of Felix's goal was cruel on Wales, but it could not be denied that Portugal deserved their victory, racking up 22 shots to Wales' five. Being pitched into a tough Nations League A group with Portugal, Norway and Denmark was Wales' reward for promotion two years ago, and boss Craig Bellamy — who was on the brink of leaving in the summer to join Burnley — had welcomed the challenge as an opportunity to improve their seeding for the 2028 European Championship.

Wales spurned a glorious chance to draw level when Brennan Johnson ghosted in behind the Portugal backline and lofted an effort onto the crossbar, with Lewis Koumas' attempt on the rebound blocked off the line by Ruben Dias. Daniel James and Nuno Mendes then fired wide at either end before substitute Goncalo Ramos stung the palms of Ward.

Wales remain winless in their last five matches (D3 L2), their worst run under Bellamy, but there were plenty of positives to take from the display ahead of facing Denmark in three days' time.

What the players said

"On another day it could have gone another way. It's disappointing but we played good football. We could have done better, but it's not an easy place to come. There are positives to take from it."

"It's a shot from outside the box which could go anywhere [that won the game]. Unfortunately, it took a deflection off me. They had other good chances, too. We are more than capable of playing teams at this level. We just played one of the best and gave them a good go. I'm looking forward to the next one."

"I think it was a very good game. We controlled it and had a lot of chances but were not capable of scoring more. We wanted the three points and got that. We always have a point to prove. The expectations are high on ourselves. It's a positive win for us."

Fernandes added: "We knew they [Wales] were good. If they play in the Premier League, they need to be at a high level. We knew they could cause us problems. We scored one, and we didn't concede. That's the big thing."

By the numbers

With Wales missing several key players including Harry Wilson and Joe Rodon, many expected a comfortable outing for Portugal. Jesus' side finished with an xG total of 2.36 from their 23 shots, only five of which were on target, compared to Wales' tally of 0.84 from their five attempts. Portugal's 13 first-half shots were their most in the opening 45 minutes of a game since November 2025 against Armenia (17).

Portugal's next test sees them take on Erling Haaland and Norway, while Wales host Denmark in three days' time.