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Rúben Neves saved the day for the Portuguese side with a dramatic winning goal in their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had denied a spot-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder headed home during injury time to claim a slender victory, several seasons after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to overcome a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but in the end suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of honor with a gritty performance that erased some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

However, the loss puts them in a difficult position, with their first three Group F games having yielded only a solitary point. They must beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of claiming a playoff spot.

Major Moments

• Kelleher seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s effort had struck Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of stoppage time when he directed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary enhanced their hopes of qualifying by securing their initial victory with a 2-0 triumph over Armenia, moving above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. Daniel Lukacs gave his team the advantage in the first half and a teammate made sure of the points in second-half added time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now secure their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat volley in late added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in their group persisted as they were forced to a two-all tie at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors late on from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s winless run to several matches.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team continued their dominant qualifying group run with a 2-0 win over Georgia after goals from a Spanish attacker and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The result continued the European champions’ perfect run in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad showcased their superiority against a Georgian team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. The home side controlled the match with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal secured the victory in the second period with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Other Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a comprehensive victory over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in Group E. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was among the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their hopes of at least reaching the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach commented: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or our next opponents. We are aware of what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the last two World Cups, twice falling short in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now looks their most likely chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over Israel in Group I. Norway are leading on 18 points from six games. Italy have 12 points with a game in hand on their rivals and are three points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad stay in fourth place on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically overtake the group leaders on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a playoff spot probably beckons for the Italian squad.