🔗 Share this article

Rúben Neves was the hero for Portugal with a injury-time winner in their World Cup qualifying encounter against Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had denied a penalty from the veteran forward.

Match Summary

Neves found the net during stoppage time to claim a slender victory, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to defeat a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite restoring a good deal of honor with a gritty performance that erased some of the memories of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat puts them facing elimination, with their first three qualifying group games having yielded only a single point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of securing a qualifying spot.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have earned Ireland a draw when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s effort had hit an Irish defender’s hand.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the opening moments of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their first win with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in Group F. A Hungarian forward provided Hungary the lead in the first half and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half added time.

Group K

Serbia suffered a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the only goal for his team with a neat volley in first-half added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in Group K continued as they were held to a two-all tie at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the away side late on from time to claim them their first point of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain maintained their dominant qualifying group campaign with a 2-0 victory over the Georgian side after goals from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in Elche. The win extended the title holders’ perfect run in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three games without conceding.

In spite of the absence of players such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to injuries, the Spanish squad demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that spent the majority of the game sitting back. The home side controlled the match with over eighty percent of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a clear chance, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a rout.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken dead-ball routine, and his compatriot secured the win in the 64th minute with a spectacular set-piece after Mamardashvili had denied a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to the group leaders in their section. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was one of the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a 3-1 win away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “We’re not thinking about the group leaders or Israel. We are aware of our responsibilities.”

Italy missed out for the previous two global tournaments, on two occasions falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded backdoor route now looks their most likely chance after Norway’s 5-0 win over Israel in their qualifying group. Norway are top on eighteen points from six games. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are three points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad remain in fourth place on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

Italy host their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would secure second spot and, while they can still mathematically catch Norway on the table, the leaders’ far superior goal ratio means a playoff spot likely awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.