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Rúben Neves came to the rescue for Portugal with a injury-time winning goal in their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had denied a penalty from the veteran forward.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during injury time to snatch a narrow victory, four years after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to overcome a stubborn Ireland team.

The Irish squad looked set to leave Lisbon with a well-earned point, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of pride with a gritty display that erased some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat puts them facing elimination, with their first three Group F games having yielded only a single draw. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a playoff spot.

Major Moments

• Kelleher looked to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’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 headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Additional Qualifying Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team enhanced their chances of advancing by securing their initial victory with a 2-0 triumph over the Armenian side, moving above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in Group F. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the lead in the opening period and a teammate made sure of the victory in second-half added time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow loss at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now secure their qualification from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the only goal for Albania with a neat shot in first-half added time.

The Latvian side struggles in their group continued as they were forced to a 2-2 tie at home by the Andorran team. An Andorran player scored for the away side 12 minutes from time to claim them their first point of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Group E

Spain maintained their dominant qualifying group campaign with a comfortable win over the Georgian side after goals from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The win continued the European champions’ perfect run in qualifying, having scored 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, the Spanish squad showcased their dominance against a Georgian team that spent most of the match sitting back. Spain dominated the encounter with more than 80% possession, and Georgia did not have a single attempt on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had denied a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a comprehensive victory over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in Group E. The Spanish club’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad boosted their prospects of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We know our responsibilities.”

The Azzurri missed out for the previous two global tournaments, twice missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now looks their most likely opportunity after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 hammering over the Israeli side in Group I. The Norwegians are top on 18 points from six matches. Italy have 12 points with a game in hand on their rivals and are three points clear of Israel. The Estonian squad remain in fourth place on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would cement second spot and, while they can still mathematically overtake the group leaders on the table, the leaders’ far superior goal ratio means a qualifying place probably awaits for the Italian squad.