LIECHTENSTEIN (Reuters) - Cristiano Ronaldo found the back of the net to help Portugal beat Liechtenstein 2-0 in Group J clash on Thursday as the 38-year-old tied Belgium's Romelu Lukaku as the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign's top scorer.
With their spot for the finals already secured, Portugal are on top of their group on 27 points, eight ahead of second-placed Slovakia. Liechtenstein are bottom with no points after nine games.
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez decided not to rest any of his usual starters but his side struggled against their lowly rivals and were unable to break the deadlock in the first half.
But in the first minute of the second half, Diogo Jota's through ball found Ronaldo, who cut inside between two defenders and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed shot that skimmed the crossbar before going in.
Ronaldo extended his lead as the all-time top scorer in international soccer by moving up to 128 goals in 204 matches.
Joao Cancelo extended their lead in the 56th minute, taking advantage of a blunder by goalkeeper Benjamin Buechel, who was out of position, to striked into the empty net.
Luxembourg sweep past Bosnia 4-1 to enter Euro playoffs
Luxembourg thumped Bosnia 4-1 on Thursday but fell short of a top-two finish in Group J after Slovakia beat Iceland 4-2, leaving both teams in the hunt for a place for Euro 2024 in the play-offs.
The home side took the lead after six minutes when Mathias Olesen's header flew into the top right-hand corner of Nikola Vasilj's goal.
Luxembourg extended the lead 20 minutes later after a penalty taken by Gerson Rodrigues following a foul by Amir Hadziahmetovic on Leandro Barreiro, after a VAR review, that caused the away crowd to throw flares onto the pitch. The hosts' third came 10 minutes after the break, following an own goal from defender Nihad Mujakic from Dirk Carlson's rebounded cross. A late Renato Gojkovic goal gave the Bosnians some breathing space in added time before Rodrigues scored his second goal two minutes later.
Already-qualified Portugal topped Group J with 25 points after nine matches, while Slovakia is second with 19 points. Luxembourg and Bosnia still have a chance to go through the playoffs.
Slovakia cruise past Iceland to qualify for Euro 2024
Slovakia recovered from a goal down to beat Iceland 4-2 at home in Group J on Thursday, becoming the latest country to secure a place at next year's European Championship.
Despite an early scare when Iceland's Orri Oskarsson headed in the opening goal in the 17th minute, the hosts dominated the remainder of the match as they went on to qualify for a third successive Euros.
Juraj Kucka equalised at the half-hour mark before Ondrej Duda completed the turnaround six minutes later, slotting home a penalty after Kristian Hlynsson fouled him.
After the break, Slovakia dominated, with Lukas Haraslin scoring two minutes into the second half and completing his brace eight minutes later with a curled shot from the edge of the box.
Iceland's Andri Gudjohnsen breathed life into the match in the 74th minute, using his thigh to bounce the ball in from a corner, only a minute after coming on.
The victory ensures a top-two finish for Slovakia in Group J along with already-qualified Portugal.