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Cristiano Ronaldo led Portugal in its unrelenting chase after Switzerland in the qualifying rounds for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia, while France kept the lead in its qualifying group and both the Netherlands and Belgium got some unpleasant surprises from their respective rivals.
Ronaldo was at his best at Da Luz Stadium. The Real Madrid striker led the European champion to prolong its duel with Switzerland for the leadership of Group B.
Portugal downed Hungary at Lisbon 3-0, with two of the goals scored by Cristiano, who was also instrumental in another, finished off by Andre Silva. The latter has now scored 70 goals with Portugal, which trails Switzerland by 3 points, which previously had a tough win over Latvia.
For its part, France remained on top of Qualifying Group A with a 3-1 win over a tightly defensive Luxembourg team at Josy Barthel Stadium. Olivier Giroud scored a double for the Didier Deschamps outfit while Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann booted in a penalty kick.
France kept its leading position thanks to the Netherlands’ defeat at the Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia against Bulgaria, which now holds third place, with Danny Blind’s Netherlands bunch now down in fourth place.
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