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Rúben Neves was the hero for the Portuguese side with a last-gasp winner in their World Cup clash against the Republic of Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had kept out a penalty from the veteran forward.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder headed home during stoppage time to claim a 1-0 win, several seasons after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to overcome a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but in the end left empty-handed, despite restoring a good deal of pride with a battling performance that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat puts them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of Group F matches having yielded only a single draw. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a qualifying spot.

Key Moments

• Kelleher looked to have secured Ireland a draw when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the opening moments of stoppage time when he directed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their chances of advancing by picking up their first win with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs gave his team the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in second-half stoppage time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning the Three Lions can now seal their qualification from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the only goal for Albania with a well-taken volley in first-half stoppage time.

The Latvian side struggles in Group K continued as they were forced to a 2-2 draw at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the away side 12 minutes from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain continued their dominant Group E campaign with a 2-0 win over Georgia after strikes from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in the match venue. The win continued the European champions’ flawless record in qualifying, having scored 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

Despite the absence of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their superiority against a Georgian team that passed most of the match defending deep. Spain dominated the encounter with more than 80% possession, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino broke the deadlock in the first half from a well-executed 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.

Other Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in their section. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was one of the goal-getters.
• Italy improved their prospects of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or Israel. We are aware of what we have to do.”

Italy failed to qualify for the previous two global tournaments, on two occasions missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now looks their primary opportunity after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 hammering over Israel in Group I. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six games. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand on their competitors and are a trio of points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the qualifying stage.

Italy host their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically catch Norway on points, the Norwegians’ far superior goal ratio means a qualifying place likely awaits for the Italian squad.