Cristiano Ronaldo extended his record international goalscoring tally as Portugal came from behind to beat Germany 2-1 and reach the Nations League final.
Portugal, winners of the inaugural Nations League in 2019, had not beaten Germany since a 3-0 win at Euro 2000, and that run appeared poised to continue after Florian Wirtz, seemingly bound for Premier League champions Liverpool, headed Die Mannschaft ahead in the 48th minute.
But Francisco Conceicao, whose father Sergio was on target in that win 25 years ago, levelled in spectacular fashion before Ronaldo’s 137th international goal condemned Julian Nagelsmann to his first defeat at the Allianz Arena as Germany coach.
Portugal will now face either European champions Spain or France in the final at the same venue on Sunday. Germany head to the game for third place in Stuttgart.
Germany v Portugal
Kick-off was delayed by 10 minutes by a hailstorm in Munich, and it took Ronaldo some time to warm to the occasion, an early chance wasted when he shot straight at Marc-Andre ter Stegen after good work down the left from Pedro Neto, who then fired over the bar after an excellent run from the edge of his own box.
But Portugal surrendered the ascendancy thereafter and were grateful to a pair of saves from Diogo Costa to deny Germany debutant Nick Woltemade and then Leon Goretzka, the second particularly impressive as he got down to low to his right after Goretzka was teed up by Leroy Sane.
Germany had the better of the first half without punishing Portugal. However, after Ronaldo failed to make sufficient contact with Neto’s low cross to the far post a minute into the second half, Die Mannschaft did make the breakthrough when Wirtz headed Joshua Kimmich’s wonderfully weighted lofted pass from the edge of the area just inside the right-hand post.
The goal was checked by VAR as Portugal complained that Woltemade had impeded Ruben Dias from an offside position, but it was upheld after referee Slavko Vinčić took a quick trip to the pitchside monitor.
Kimmich’s assist was a fine way to mark his 100th cap for Germany, but flashes of brilliance were few and far between from the hosts from then on.
Indeed, Portugal’s response to going was fantastic and, after Bruno Fernandes fizzed an effort wide and Ronaldo headed off-target, Conceicao lit up the Allianz Arena with an outstanding individual goal.
Introduced as part of a triple change by Roberto Martinez, Conceicao surged in from the right flank and, taking no time to slow his run, bent a sublime left-footed shot beyond Ter Stegen and in off the post from 25 yards.
Ronaldo then completed the turnaround with a much more simple finish, staying onside as Nuno Mendes darted down the left-hand side and tapping in from the Paris Saint-Germain full-back’s low delivery.
The closing stages were frantic and often tempestuous. Karim Adeyemi hit the post from a tight angle for Germany after Conceicao had threatened to repeat the trick and double his tally, but it was Portugal who looked the more likely to score the game’s fourth goal and settle the tie.
An outstanding double save from Ter Stegen prevented Diogo Jota and then Conceicao from doing just that, but it mattered not as Portugal saw out five minutes of injury time to move a step closer to recapturing the title they won six years prior.
