Portugal and Italy kept hold of first place in their UEFA ­Nations League groups on Sunday with goalless draws against France and Poland on a night of little drama, while England saw off Belgium to take the initiative in their pool.

There was not much to talk about at the Stade de France as a star-studded lineup of players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann failed to muster much of a spectacle in the League A, Group 3 match.

The 1,000 fans gathered in the cavernous stadium just outside Paris to watch France host the reigning European champions were treated to just four shots on target as two rugged defences cancelled out each team's attacks.

Pepe headed home what he thought was a 74th-minute opener when he got on the end of Bruno Fernandes' free kick but was flagged offside.

Ronaldo, chasing his 102nd international goal, was denied by a flying save from Hugo Lloris in added time.

Both sides are on seven points, four ahead of Croatia, whose 2-1 home win over Sweden earlier on Sunday was the group's more entertaining match, with a calamitous late lapse from Pontus Jansson allowing the 2018 World Cup finalists to snatch the points in a soaking Zagreb.

Italy stretched their un­beaten streak to 18 matches and held onto top spot in League A, Group 1 with their stalemate in Gdansk.

New Juventus signing Federico Chiesa missed the chance to win the match for the dominant "Azzurri" from close range in the 11th minute.

Roberto Mancini's side are one point ahead of the ­Netherlands, who also drew 0-0 with Bosnia and ­Herzegovina, ahead of their meeting in Bergamo on Wednesday.

England manager Gareth Southgate said his side showed what they were made of after coming from behind to beat Belgium 2-1 and move top of League A, Group 2 earlier on Sunday.

The Three Lions are on seven points, one ahead of the world's top-ranked side after Marcus Rashford's spot kick and Mason Mount's deflected winner 25 minutes from time cancelled out Romelu Lukaku's early penalty.

Denmark are three points behind England in third after their simple 3-0 win over bottom side Iceland.