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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for the Portuguese side with a injury-time winner in their World Cup qualifying encounter against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had kept out a penalty from the veteran forward.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder nodded in during injury time to claim a narrow triumph, four years after the star striker had scored twice at the death to overcome a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but in the end suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of honor with a battling performance that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss leaves them staring down the barrel, with their first three Group F games having yielded only a solitary point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of securing a qualifying place.

Key Moments

• Kelleher looked to have earned Ireland a draw when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s effort had hit an Irish defender’s arm.
• Neves saved Portugal in the first minute of added time when he headed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Results

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their first win with a 2-0 triumph over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in the standings. A Hungarian forward gave his team the advantage in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half added time.

Group K

The Serbian national team suffered a narrow defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning England can now seal their qualification from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the decisive strike for Albania with a well-taken shot in late stoppage time.

Latvia struggles in their group persisted as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to claim them their first point of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s winless run to several matches.

Spain’s Group

Spain continued their impressive Group E campaign with a 2-0 win over the Georgian side after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result extended the title holders’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad showcased their dominance against a Georgian team that spent the majority of the game sitting back. The home side controlled the encounter with over eighty percent of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a clear chance, with only shot-stopper their keeper averting a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed dead-ball move, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a stunning set-piece after the Georgian keeper had saved a Spanish player’s penalty.

Other Results

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a 6-1 victory over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in Group E. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was among the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad improved their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a 3-1 win away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach commented: “We’re not thinking about the group leaders or our next opponents. We know what we have to do.”

Italy failed to qualify for the previous two global tournaments, on two occasions falling short in the playoffs, and the dreaded playoff path now appears their most likely chance after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive hammering over Israel in their qualifying group. Norway are top on eighteen points from six games. The Italians have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points clear of Israel. Estonia remain in fourth place on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the qualifying stage.

Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would secure second spot and, while they can still theoretically catch Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a qualifying place probably awaits for the Italian squad.