Nations League: Cristiano Ronaldo flops as Spain beats Portugal 

Nico Williams headed Dani Carvajal's long ball into the box in the 88th minute across to Morata, who blasted the ball into the back of the net to hush most of the sold-out stadium.

Spain topped League A-Group 2 with 11 points from six games, one point ahead of Portugal, who needed just a draw to go to the semifinals.

The Spaniards compete alongside Croatia, Italy, and the Netherlands in the 2019 finals.

It was a crushing loss for Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, who created numerous opportunities, dominated most of the game, and appeared so close to winning a spot in the finals.

Ronaldo had a night to forget as Portugal lost their first competitive match against Spain since the 2010 World Cup.

In the international matches up to the Qatar 2022 World Cup, Spain has been unable to reach its best form, but this hard-fought victory delivers a nice morale boost.

Spain vs Portugal highlights

Diogo Jota received a long ball from Bruno Fernandes in the 32nd minute and blasted a shot toward the upper right corner, but Unai Simon made a tremendous one-handed stop.

Five minutes later, Fernandes nearly scored himself when he fired a cross-shot into the side netting with a strike so close that the home crowd mistook it for a goal.

Ronaldo's rustiness in front of goal began just after halftime when Diogo Jota set him up with a brilliant through ball, but Unai Simon denied his initial attempt.

As they did against Switzerland, Spain failed to record a single effort on goal in the first half, and Luis Enrique took action after Simon made another excellent save from Cristiano Ronaldo early in the second half.

The coach substituted Pedri, Gavi, and Yeremy Pino, to give La Roja more offensive motivation. Still, the home side nearly broke the deadlock when Dani Carvajal deflected a shot just over his crossbar.

Ronaldo tried hard to score, but his play was frequently uneven. He could not connect with his teammates, who kept squandering opportunities and allowed Spain to stay in the game, allowing Morata to be the hero again with a late game-winning goal.

In response to a question about who he would take to the World Cup, Luis Enrique said: "It's not about 26 players, there are 40 who could go to the World Cup. We've had Borja [Iglesias] and Nico [Williams] now. It's a pleasure to have so many quality Spanish players. The shame is that some will be left out. You see that so many players deserve it and it's a shame."

Fernando Santos, the manager of Portugal, stated that the setback did not affect his team's confidence or preparations for the World Cup, where he still considers Portugal to be among the favourites.

In Group H, Portugal faces Ghana, Uruguay, and South Korea.