The opening games in the European qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup in Russia have ended with the European champions Portugal suffering a defeat, France drawing a blank, and the Faroe Islands grab a point.

Maybe it’s because they always beat my England, but I have a real dislike for the Portuguese national side. Discounting the teams who competed at Euro 2016 that didn’t stand a mouse in hell’s chance of winning the thing, Portugal were the most mundane of the lot, and yet they won  – don’t let the title of European Champions fool you.

Drawn in a group containing Switzerland, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Hungary, and Andorra, you expect Portugal to qualify with one Ronaldo tied behind their back. And yet they have started their Group B qualifying campaign with a humbling away at Switzerland, another team who played euthanasia inducing football during their Euro 2016 games.

Portugal was without their enigmatic captain Cristiano Ronaldo, and their young midfield star Renato Sanches, and yet they still managed to control most of the possession, taking 27 pot shots at the Swiss goal.