The Portugal players walked across the pitch as a group to acknowledge the fans who had made the trip. Cristiano Ronaldo was not with them. He had already gone down the tunnel.

He had watched the whole match from the substitutes’ bench. It was his first competitive match as an unused Portugal substitute since Euro 2008 against Switzerland, Yahoo Sports reported from the mixed zone at Ullevaal Stadion.

‘Only he can answer that’

Head coach Jorge Jesus was asked directly why his captain had skipped the salute. He refused to be drawn.

“I believe what they say, but I didn’t even notice it. Only he can answer that.”

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Jesus had picked João Félix and Gonçalo Ramos as his attacking pair from kick-off, and never changed it. On the sporting decision itself he was more forthcoming.

“Ronaldo didn’t play today because the game changed my ideas; my idea was for him to play in the second half, but given the result, I felt it wasn’t the right time to put him in the game,” Jesus said, as reported by GiveMeSport.

Félix, Haaland and Ramos in the space of half an hour

Félix put Portugal in front after 17 minutes with a finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area. Erling Haaland levelled shortly after the interval with a close-range tap-in, and inside a minute the Norway goalkeeper had passed the ball straight to Ramos, who chipped it into an empty net.

Jesus refused to present the winner as a vindication of the team sheet.

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“The fact that Ramos scored a goal doesn’t justify anything, just like in the case of Félix who scored in two games. Each game has a strategy and I have to choose the best players for the game.”

Denmark up next, and no promise of a start

Ronaldo is Portugal’s captain and record scorer. He has said the 2026 World Cup would be his last, and he remains under contract at Al-Nassr.

Portugal’s next Nations League fixture is at home to Denmark. Jesus was asked whether the captain would go straight back into the starting eleven.

“That doesn’t mean he won’t play against Denmark. Since I made four changes today, I’m also capable of making four or five against Denmark.”

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