Ronaldo's exit during Nations League leaves 146-goal record for Kane, Mbappé, Haaland to chase

The Messi-Ronaldo era has ended in national team soccer and in the UEFA Nations League this week Europe’s top strikers resume a long pursuit of the two greats’ remarkable goal-scoring totals.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s formal retirement from the Portugal team last week leaves his men's record 146 goals as the grail for Harry Kane (on 91), Kylian Mbappé (67) and Erling Haaland (65).

Kane will set an England record of 126 games if he plays when hosting Croatia on Thursday. England then plays on Sunday at World Cup and European champion Spain, which starts the week with a 42-game unbeaten run.

Mbappé and France face Italy in Milan on Thursday and host Turkey three days later.

Haaland and Norway first host Wales — a possible relegation decider on Saturday in Portugal’s group — then visit Denmark on Tuesday.

In the fourth top-tier group, Jürgen Klopp's Germany trails unbeaten Netherlands and Greece after winning just one of his first four games as coach.

The final standings next week will send the winner and runner-up in all four groups to the Nations League quarterfinals in March. The final four mini tournament is in June.

Also in play over the next week is seeding the 54 nations for the Dec. 6 draw in Belfast of qualifying groups for the 2028 European Championship .

That 146-goal mark, scored in an astonishing 234 national team games across 23 years, is likely safe until at least the 2030 World Cup that Portugal will co-host.

Messi ended his Argentina career last month second all-time with 126 goals, ahead of Iran great Ali Daei, who scored 108 times from 1993 to 2006.

The next three on the list all are active in Europe: Romelu Lukaku on 94 goals, the 38-year-old Robert Lewandowski on 92 and Kane’s 91.

Lukaku is just a few weeks older than his fellow 33-year-old Kane yet has been more vulnerable to injuries and has just five goals this year compared to the England captain’s 13.

Catching up are Mbappé, who turns 28 next month, and Haaland, 26, who averages more than one goal per game for Norway. That rate is unseen since Gerd Muller scored 68 in 62 games in a West Germany career that ended with the decisive goal in the 1974 World Cup final.

The active non-European highest on the all-time list is Mohamed Salah, with 66 for Egypt at No. 32 between Mbappé and Haaland.

Spain will be without Lamine Yamal against the Czech Republic on Thursday. Spain's 42-game unbeaten run includes a 2-2 draw in the 2025 Nations League final won by Portugal in a penalty shootout.

No one has beaten Spain in 90 minutes or extra time since March 2024 when Colombia won a friendly 1-0 in London at West Ham’s stadium.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente has given a first call to center back Jacobo Ramón who has impressed since leaving Real Madrid for Como, the surprise team in the Champions League.

Spain hosts England on Sunday in Atletico Madrid's stadium where the Bellingham brothers , Real Madrid's Jude and Borussia Dortmund's Jobe, are in their first national team squad together.

France coach Zinedine Zidane had a happier start to international duty than his fellow Champions League winner Klopp, also still impressing in practices . Les Bleus will advance to the quarterfinals by beating Italy at San Siro on Thursday.

France then hosts last-placed Turkey, which looks set for relegation, in Bordeaux where Zidane’s career took off in the mid-1990s. The financially struggling club now plays in the sixth tier.

Turkey first hosts Belgium under new coach Sergen Yalçın, who last month replaced the fired Italian Vincenzo Montella.

Germany will have no fans in the Belgrade stadium to face last-placed Serbia on Friday. UEFA punished the Serbian federation for fans' offensive behavior in the previous rounds, and only 5,000 accompanied children and youths can attend.

Germany then hosts the Xavi Hernandez-coached Dutch in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

At the same time on Monday, fast-improving Greece with 18-year-old playmaker Konstantinos Karetsas could advance to the quarterfinals by beating Serbia in Volos.

Switzerland can seal a quick return to the top tier with just a draw at Slovenia on Friday, ahead of hosting Scotland on Monday.

Northern Ireland tops its second-tier group with no goals conceded in four games by goalkeeper Pierce Charles ahead of hosting Ukraine in Belfast on Saturday.

Viktor Gyökeres has scored in all four games so far and Sweden will be promoted to the top tier by beating visiting Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday.

In third-tier groups, Los Angeles FC forward Leo Walta has been a standout for Finland with four goals.

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