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Rúben Neves saved the day for the Portuguese side with a last-gasp decisive strike in their World Cup qualifying clash against Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Summary

The Wolves midfielder found the net during added time to secure a narrow win, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace at the death to defeat a resilient Irish side.

The Irish squad appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a well-earned draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of honor with a gritty performance that erased some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

However, the defeat puts them in a difficult position, with their first three Group F games having yielded only a single point. They must beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a qualifying spot.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a point when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s effort had struck an Irish defender’s arm.
• Neves saved Portugal in the opening moments of added time when he headed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their first win with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. A Hungarian forward provided his team the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half stoppage time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning the Three Lions can now secure their passage from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the decisive strike for Albania with a well-taken shot in first-half stoppage time.

Latvia difficulties in their group continued as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain continued their impressive qualifying group campaign with a comfortable win over the Georgian side after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result extended the European champions’ perfect record in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three games without letting in a goal.

Despite the unavailability of players such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their superiority against a Georgian team that passed most of the match sitting back. Spain dominated the encounter with more than 80% possession, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or create a clear chance, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a well-executed dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular free kick after Mamardashvili had saved Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Other Results

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a 6-1 victory over the Bulgarian side to keep the pressure on Spain in Group E. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was one of the goal-getters.
• Italy improved their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable win away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We know what we have to do.”

Italy failed to qualify for the previous two World Cups, twice falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded playoff path now looks their most likely chance after Norway’s 5-0 win over Israel in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a match less played on their rivals and are three points ahead of Israel. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the tournament, with the second-placed sides going into the qualifying stage.

Italy host 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 Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a playoff spot probably awaits for the Italian squad.