Nations League: Sweden defeats Bosnia and ensures promotion to the first level

The former Algerian international, Issa Mandi, received a special honor on Saturday evening, before the match in which the Algerian national team met with its guest Togo, in the third round of qualifiers for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations finals, in appreciation of his distinguished career.

The Algerian national team won 1-0, with a goal by defender Ramy Bensebaini, strengthening the team’s lead in Group Nine in the qualifiers with 7 points.

Mandy entered the stadium before the match and received a warm reception from the fans, who were chanting his name.

The Algerian national team players lined up in the middle of the field and set up a corridor of honor for Mandy, who had the number 123, which is the number of matches he played with Algeria in 12 years.

Mandy delivered a speech through the microphone while addressing the audience: “Thank you very much for the 12 years I spent with the Algerian national team. It was a great honor for me to represent Algeria, and thanks to you, Algeria has a great national team.”

It is noteworthy that Mandy, who joined the Spanish club Levante last summer, announced his retirement from international football after the team’s exit from the 32nd round of the 2026 World Cup, after he helped win the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

Portugal, the defending champion, suffered a humiliating loss at the start of its matches after the retirement of its star, Cristiano Ronaldo, from international football. It came at home to Denmark 1-4 on Saturday, in the fifth round of the fourth group of the first level competitions of the European Nations League competition.

Leader Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (43rd penalty kick), Rasmus Hoylund (50th and 57th), and Joachim Andersen (75th) scored Denmark's goals, and Bernardo Silva scored Portugal's late goal (90+4).

Coach Brian Remer's men suffered their first loss to Portugal, ensuring their qualification to the quarter-finals after 4 successive victories, raising their score to 9 points in second place, 3 points behind third-placed Norway, which regained its balance after three successive defeats by beating Wales 3-1 earlier.

Denmark will meet its guest, Norway, in the final sixth round, where the second qualification ticket will be decided between these two teams, to accompany Portugal, which guaranteed its qualification by occupying first place with 12 points, knowing that it needed an orphan point to tighten its grip on the lead.

At Braga Stadium, in the rain, Portugal honored its star Ronaldo (41 years old), who won the Ballon d'Or five times, before the start of the match, as the players entered the field wearing shirts bearing the number seven, which is Ronaldo's number.

The Saudi Al-Nasr star announced his international retirement following his dispute with Portuguese national team coach Jorge Jesus in September.

Ronaldo participated for the first time with the Portuguese national team in 2003, and went on to achieve world records in the number of goals and participations at the international level, as he played 234 matches for his country’s jersey, during which he scored 146 goals.