Portugal may be coming off their first European championship, but they learned the hard way qualification to the 2018 World Cup won't come easy. The Euro 2016 winners fell, 2-0, to the Swiss on Tuesday night at St. Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland.
The Portuguese were without their best player, as Cristiano Ronaldo continues to miss time as a result of the knee injury he suffered in the Euro 2016 final. His creativity and playmaking ability were sorely lacking Tuesday, since Portugal struggled mightily in the final third.
However, defending was a far bigger issue for Portugal.