Cristiano Ronaldo watches from the bench as Portugal wins behind a Goncalo Ramos winner

Cristiano Ronaldo never left the bench, but Portugal didn’t need him to beat Norway 1-2 in Oslo on Sunday, with Goncalo Ramos stepping into the starting striker role and delivering the winning goal in his place. Jorge Jesus’ side has now taken six points from its opening two matches of this Nations League campaign.

Portugal broke the deadlock in the 17th minute through Joao Felix, whose disguised finish snuck past Ørjan Nyland after a slick move down the left. Norway hit back early in the second half when Erling Haaland turned in Patrick Berg’s header off an Martin Odegaard free kick, leveling the score.

But the celebration barely had time to settle before Portugal struck again, as a wayward pass from Nyland landed straight at Ramos’ feet, and he calmly lifted it over the exposed goalkeeper to restore the lead.

Ramos nearly doubled his tally soon after, pouncing on another mistake by Nyland to roll the ball into an empty net, only to see the goal chalked off for offside. Diogo Costa held firm the rest of the way despite a wave of late Norwegian pressure, keeping Portugal’s lead intact and sealing the result in Jesus’ side’s favor.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s chase for 1,000 career goals put on hold

Ronaldo’s pursuit of 1,000 career goals will have to wait after not playing a single minute against Norway, leaving him stuck on 979 total goals, 21 shy of the milestone, with 833 coming for his clubs and 146 for Portugal. The rest day means the countdown stays frozen for now, but Jesus has already made clear the veteran won’t be sidelined for long.

Ronaldo is expected to return to the lineup for Portugal’s remaining matches in this window, starting with the clash against Denmark on October 1 before the rematch with Norway on October 4, giving him multiple chances to close the gap on the historic milestone before this international break wraps up.

If Ronaldo doesn’t convert during this international window, he’ll still have chances to reach the milestone with Al Nassr once club football resumes, with his side returning to action against Al Diriyah in the Saudi Pro League on October 9.