The Portuguese scored first just a minute after the half hour mark when Nani slotted home the opener. But the lead did not last long when Birkir Bjarnason volleyed home five minutes into the second half to get Iceland back into the match.
Despite their small size as a country, Iceland was coming into this match with a big pedigree having beaten absent Netherlands twice in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
They were therefore bound to give Portugal trouble and almost went ahead early when Gylfi Sigurdsson was denied with an angled shot.
Portugal was clearly the more experienced side and had one of the world’s best strikers in Christiano Ronaldo. This, however, did not appear to help them much with the Real Madrid forward, looking out of depth in this match.
Ronaldo bothered the Iceland backline with a number of shots but only one was on target and it looks like he has to wait longer before he can replicate his club form on the national team following another disappointing show.
It was Ronaldo’s 127th cap for Portugal and he now equals Luis Figo’s record. Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Thor Halldorsson was a busy man throughout the first half as he made save after save to deny their opponents.
In another Group ‘F’ match, Hungary produced a shock victory by dispatching off a ten man Austria side 2-0 also on Tuesday night.
Austria came into this match as firm favourites following an impressive qualifying campaign that saw them go unbeaten.
But Hungary managed to contain them and was rewarded two minutes after the hour mark when Adam Szalai sent home Laszlo Kleinheiser’s pass.
Hungary made it sure three minutes before time when Zoltan Stieber scored the second goal. Austria was reduced to ten men in the 66th minute when Aleksandar Dragovic was sent off for a second bookable offense.
