In the 35th minute, Feyenoord thought they had scored when Ayase Ueda steered a header home from a corner kick. Referee Rade Obrenovič immediately disallowed the goal, signaling a foul by Tsuyoshi Watanabe on Aston Villa defender Matty Cash, though replays suggested minimal contact.
Earlier in the 13th minute, Obrenovic also made a controversial decision when he issued only a yellow card to Feyenoord's Anel Ahmedhodzic for a professional foul on Ollie Watkins as the last man. Even after being sent to the pitch-side monitor by VAR for a potential red card review, Obrenovic decided to stick with his yellow card decision.
Feyenoord manager Robin van Persie later claimed that Obrenovic approached him during the half-time interval and apologized for ruling out the legitimate goal.
The Slovenian has previously refereed the Portuguese Under-21 national team, in the quarter-finals of Euro 2023 against England. Portugal lost 1-0 in Georgia.
Obrenovic has also had experience officiating Denmark as he was in charge at Parken Stadium on 15 November 2024 whenDenmark lost 1–2 to Spain. It was the first match under Brian Riemer as national team coach, and Obrenović issued six yellow cards during the game.
This will be Portugal's first match since Cristiano Ronaldo officially left the national team after 23 years, 234 appearances and 146 goals.
Having won all four of their opening matches, Portugal top the group with 12 points. Denmark are next on six, while Wales and Norway have three each, with the race for the second qualifying place still open.
Portugal against Denmark is st to take place in Braga on Saturday at 21.00 CET: