Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 137th international goal as Portugal edged out Germany 2-1 to register a historic win and reach the UEFA Nations League final on Wednesday night.

The 40-year-old capitalised on a low pass from Nuno Mendes in the 68th minute to score the winner. Portugal will face the winner of the second semifinal between Spain and France, to be played on Thursday night in Stuttgart. The final is scheduled for Sunday in Munich.

Ronaldo found the back of the net just five minutes after Francisco Conceicao cancelled out a 48th-minute Florian Wirtz opener for Germany.

Portugal, the winner of the inaugural Nations League in 2019, fell behind after Wirtz opened the scoring for Germany. The Bayer Leverkusen forward, who is close to completing a £109m move to Premier League champions Liverpool, connected with a clever lofted ball over the defence by Joshua Kimmich, who was making his 100th appearance for Germany.

Portugal protested the goal as they alleged that Germany's debutant Nick Woltemade had blocked off defender Ruben Dias and, despite referee Slavko Vincic being advised to watch the incident again on a pitchside monitor, the goal was allowed.

Portugal drew level in the 63rd minute when substitute Conceicao scored a fine equaliser. Coming on the pitch only five minutes before, he collected the ball close to the right touchline before running at the home defence and curling an excellent finish past Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

Ronaldo doubled the deal, securing a win for Portugal five minutes later. Though Germany nearly equalised when Karim Adeyemi's strike hit the post, Portugal’s defence maintained vigilance to deny the hosts.

Earlier, the match was delayed by 10 minutes due to hail storms in Munich as the Allianz Arena hosted its second major game of the week after the Champions League final on Saturday, when Paris St-Germain routed Inter Milan 5-0 to win their maiden European trophy.

In the first half of the game, Germany dominated possession and got better opportunities. But Portuguese goalkeeper Diogo Costa did well to stop Leon Goretzka's well-struck effort and kept out a shot from Stuttgart forward Woltemade too.

In the second half, Portugal appeared as a different side while Germany struggled to maintain rhythm. After scoring the two goals, Portugal got further chances as Ter Stegen made a brilliant double stop to deny Liverpool's Diogo Jota and the follow-up from Conceicao.

In the end, Portugal walked away with a 2-1 win, their first win over Germany since Euro 2000, when Conceicao's father, Sergio, scored a hat-trick in a 3-0 victory. This is the fourth edition of the Nations League, with Portugal winning in 2019, France in 2021, and Spain in 2023.