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Rúben Neves came to the rescue for Portugal with a dramatic winner in their World Cup encounter against Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Summary

Neves headed home during injury time to secure a 1-0 victory, several seasons after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned point, but in the end suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of pride with a gritty display that erased some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing loss in Armenia.

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

Key Moments

• Kelleher seemed to have earned Ireland a point when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of stoppage time when he headed a delivery from the wing past Kelleher.

Additional Qualifying Results

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team boosted their chances of qualifying by securing their first win with a 2-0 victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. A Hungarian forward gave his team the advantage in the first half and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in late added time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team suffered a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning the Three Lions can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the only goal for Albania with a well-taken shot in late stoppage time.

The Latvian side struggles in Group K persisted as they were forced to a 2-2 tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera found the net for the away side late on from time to claim them their first point of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain maintained their dominant Group E campaign with a comfortable win over Georgia after strikes from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in Elche. The win extended the European champions’ flawless run in the qualifiers, having notched eleven strikes in three games without letting in a goal.

In spite of the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their superiority against a Georgia team that spent most of the match defending deep. The home side controlled the match with more than 80% possession, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper their keeper averting a rout.

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

Additional Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a comprehensive thrashing over the Bulgarian side to keep the pressure on the group leaders in Group E. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the goal-getters.
• Italy boosted their hopes of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

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

Italy missed out for the previous two World Cups, twice falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now appears their most likely opportunity after Norway’s comprehensive hammering over Israel in their qualifying group. Norway are leading on eighteen points from six games. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand 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 World Cup, with the runners-up entering the qualifying stage.

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