Portugal and Spain play out goalless draw as World Cup bid announced

Cristiano Ronaldo was denied his 102nd international goal by the underside of the crossbar as Portugal drew 0-0 with Spain in a friendly in Lisbon.

Spain dominated the first half, raining in 11 shots at goal in the opening 45 minutes, but it was Portugal who really should have taken the lead, with Raphael Guerreiro firing over from eight yards out.

Ronaldo, who had a quiet first half, then exploded into life. He hammered a second-half effort for goal, but it came down off the underside of the crossbar and landed on the line.

The Portugal skipper then turned provider for Renato Sanches, who suffered exactly the same fate, seeing his first-time strike come down on the line, too, with Joao Felix missing a sitter late on to snatch the win.

The Spanish and Portuguese Football Federations actually announced, while the match was playing, that the two countries will launch a joint bid to host the 2030 World Cup.

On the pitch, an energetic Spain, who had two Leeds players in their starting XI, were on the front foot from the off, with Ronaldo cutting an isolated figure up front for the hosts.

Portugal shuffled their pack in the second half, introducing Manchester City's Bernardo Silva and Liverpool's Digo Jota, while Adama Traore, who snubbed Mali to represent Spain, came off the bench for his debut, adding to the numerous Wolves players on the pitch.

However, even with all that Premier League talented on the pitch - Manchester United's Bruno Fernandes remained on the bench - nobody could find that winning goal, as both move on to upcoming Nations League games having learned very little from this encounter.

Ronaldo goalscoring run comes to an end. The Portugal skipper never gets a rest from the start, even in friendlies, and that is exactly how he likes it. Ronaldo came into this having scored in his last six successive international matches, as he closes on Ali Daei's all-time international goalscoring record.

The Juventus striker was a bystander in the first half as Spain dominated, but in one shimmy, shifting the ball onto his left foot in the blink of an eye, he showed that even as he gets older, Ronaldo still has the sharpness to catch out the very best.

The strike was a thunderous one, and deserved a goal, but the underside of the crossbar came to Spain's rescue. That 102nd Portugal goal will have to wait.

Dani Olmo. With all the talent on the pitch, RB Leipzig's Olmo was the biggest danger, having plenty of shots, showing he is not short of confidence.

Portugal: Patricio 7, Pepe 6, Guerreiro 6, Semedo 6, Cancelo 6, Moutinho 6, Sanches 7, Neves 5, Ronaldo 7 (c), Andre Silva 5, Trincao 5... Subs: Semedo 6, Dias 6, Bernardo Silva 6, Carvalho 6, Jota 6, Joao Felix 5.

Spain: Kepa 6, Garcia 6, Llorente 7, Reguilon 6, Sergi Roberto 6, Busquets 6 (c), Ceballos 6, Canales 6, Olmo 7, Moreno 5, Rodrigo 6... Subs: Gaya 6, Ramos 6, Merino 6, Rodri 6, Campana 6, Adama Traore 6.

2’ - SAVE! Great start from the visitors, Dani Olmo feeds the ball across for Gerardo Moreno, who bundles his way to the edge of the six-yard box, pokes for goal, but Rui Patricio makes a smart block.

42’ - CHANCE! Probably the chance of the half falls for Guerrero, after a lovely flick from Trincao, but full-back fires well over from eight yards. Got right underneath the bouncing ball.

53’ - CROSSBAR! Of course, it is Ronaldo. The skipper shifts the ball onto his right foot, then his left, unleashes a thunderous strike, it beats Kepa all ends up, but hits the crossbar, bounces down on the goal line and away.

67’ - CROSSBAR AND DOWN ON THE LINE AGAIN! Ronaldo with the incredible pass this time, Sanches arrives right on cue, shoots for goal first time but, again, the ball hits the underside of the crossbar and comes down on the line!

90+3’ - MISS! Right at the last! Felix should score, but gets it all wrong, somehow missing the ball completely at the far post!