Nine Manchester City players were in action across the evening, with La Roja coming away from Braga with a slender 1-0 victory in their final Group A2 match.
Rodrigo locked horns with City’s Portuguese trio Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva in Braga, with Alvaro Morata’s late strike enough to see them leapfrog the hosts into top spot and seal their place in the semi-finals alongside Italy, Croatia and Nathan Ake‘s Holland.
Spain finish one point and one place above Portugal, with Manuel Akanji’s Switzerland finishing third in the group
Elsewhere, Erling Haaland’s Norway were denied promotion to the top tier of the Nations League and a Euro 2024 play-off spot after losing 2-0 to Serbia.
The Norwegians had begun the evening in pole position, but goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic and Dusan Vlahovic mean they have to settle for second place.
It was a similarly frustrating evening for Shea Charles, who was an unused substitute as Northern Ireland finished bottom of Group C2 following a 3-1 defeat to Greece, meaning they now have to prepare for a relegation play-off match.
However, it was better news for a number of City players turning out for England across various age groups.
Cole Palmer grabbed a stoppage time strike for England Under-21s, while loanees James Trafford, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Luke Mbete, Tommy Doyle and James McAtee also all featured in a 3-1 friendly triumph over Germany.
Ex-City forward Felix Nmecha had handed the visitors an early lead, but goals from Folarin Balogun, Conor Gallagher and Palmer turned the game on its head.
Finally, Rico Lewis helped the Three Lions to a 4-2 win over Denmark in Euro U19 qualification.
The young defender set up former City team-mate Darko Gyabi in stoppage time to complete the scoring, as England maintained their 100% record in the group stages.
