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Rúben Neves saved the day for Portugal with a last-gasp winning goal in their World Cup qualifying encounter against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Overview

Neves headed home during injury time to claim a 1-0 victory, several seasons after Ronaldo had bagged a brace at the death to overcome a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned point, but in the end suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of honor with a gritty display that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the loss puts them facing elimination, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having yielded only a single point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of securing a qualifying place.

Key Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a point when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s effort had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the opening moments of added time when he directed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Group F

The Hungarian team enhanced their hopes of advancing by picking up their initial victory with a 2-0 triumph over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in Group F. A Hungarian forward gave his team the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the victory in second-half stoppage time.

England’s Group

Serbia slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now secure their passage from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the decisive strike for his team with a neat shot in first-half stoppage time.

Latvia struggles in Group K continued as they were held to a two-all draw at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the away side late on from time to earn them their first point of the qualifiers and prolong Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Group E

The Spanish national team maintained their impressive Group E campaign with a 2-0 victory over the Georgian side after strikes from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in the match venue. The result continued the title holders’ perfect run in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three games without letting in a goal.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that passed most of the match defending deep. Spain dominated the match with more than 80% possession, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a rout.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed set-piece routine, and his compatriot secured the win in the second period with a spectacular set-piece after Mamardashvili had saved a Spanish player’s penalty.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a 6-1 victory over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was among the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad improved their hopes of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable win away to Estonia, thanks to goals from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “Our focus isn’t on the group leaders or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

The Azzurri missed out for the previous two global tournaments, twice missing out in the playoffs, and the dreaded backdoor route now appears their primary opportunity after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive win over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. Norway are leading on 18 points from six games. The Italians have 12 points with a game in hand on their competitors and are three points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia stay fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides entering the playoffs.

Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically catch the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ far superior goal difference means a playoff spot probably awaits for the Italian squad.