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Rúben Neves came to the rescue for the Portuguese side with a dramatic winner in their World Cup encounter against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had denied a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during added time to claim a slender victory, several seasons after the star striker had scored twice late on to defeat a resilient Ireland team.

The Irish squad looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately left empty-handed, despite regaining a significant amount of pride with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

However, the defeat puts them facing elimination, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having yielded only a solitary draw. They must beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a playoff place.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s effort had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves saved Portugal in the first minute of stoppage time when he headed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their chances of qualifying by picking up their initial victory 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 a teammate made sure of the victory in late added time.

Group K

The Serbian national team suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning England can now secure their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the decisive strike for his team with a well-taken shot in late added time.

The Latvian side struggles in their group persisted as they were held to a two-all tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors late on from time to claim them their first point of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Group E

The Spanish national team maintained their dominant Group E campaign with a comfortable victory over the Georgian side after goals from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in the match venue. The win extended the title holders’ perfect run in qualifying, having notched eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

In spite of the absence of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their dominance against a Georgia team that passed most of the match defending deep. Spain dominated the encounter with over eighty percent of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or generate a clear chance, with only shot-stopper their keeper averting a rout.

The scorer opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a expertly taken set-piece move, and his compatriot secured the victory in the 64th minute with a stunning set-piece after Mamardashvili had saved a Spanish player’s penalty.

Additional Results

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in their section. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was among the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad 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 Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “Our focus isn’t on the group leaders or our next opponents. We are aware of what we have to do.”

The Azzurri missed out for the last two World Cups, on two occasions missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded playoff path now appears their most likely chance after Norway’s comprehensive win over Israel in their qualifying group. Norway are leading on 18 points from six matches. The Italians have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad remain fourth on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the qualifying stage.

Italy face Israel on Tuesday, where a victory would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically catch Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place likely awaits for the Italian squad.