Wales and Ireland fall to 1-0 Nations League defeats

Brennan Johnson and Jake O'Brien both played the full 90 minutes for their respective nations on Wednesday, but Wales and the Republic of Ireland each suffered narrow 1-0 losses in their Nations League openers.

Johnson started for Wales in Lisbon, where the occasion was dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo's pursuit of a record 234th cap for Portugal at the stadium where his professional career began 24 years ago. The match was ultimately decided by a deflected Joao Felix strike midway through the first half.

Wales came closest to an equaliser in the 73rd minute when Johnson controlled a long ball on his chest and looped a shot towards goal from a narrow angle, only for the ball to come back off the crossbar. Liverpool's Lewis Koumas collected the rebound but Manchester City defender Ruben Dias blocked on the line. Ronaldo also had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside during the contest.

In the other match, O'Brien started for the Republic of Ireland in Kosovo as Heimir Hallgrimsson's side attempted to bounce back from their World Cup play-off defeat to Czech Republic in March. Ireland's defence held firm until seven minutes from time, when Kosovo striker Vedat Muriqi headed home the rebound after Ermal Krasniqi had struck the bar. A VAR review checked for a push by Muriqi but the goal was allowed to stand.

Both nations return to Nations League action on Sunday. The Republic of Ireland face Israel in Hungary, while Wales travel to Copenhagen to play Denmark.