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Rúben Neves saved the day for Portugal with a injury-time decisive strike in their World Cup qualifying encounter against Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had denied a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder headed home during stoppage time to claim a narrow victory, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to overcome a resilient Ireland team.

The Irish squad looked set to leave Lisbon with a well-earned draw, but ultimately left empty-handed, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a battling performance that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of Group F matches having yielded only a solitary point. They must beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any hope of securing a playoff spot.

Key Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have secured Ireland a point when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s shot had hit an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of stoppage time when he directed a delivery from the wing past Kelleher.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary enhanced their chances of advancing by securing their initial victory with a two-goal triumph over the Armenian side, climbing above their opponents into second place behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in late added time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now seal their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat volley in late stoppage time.

The Latvian side difficulties in Group K persisted as they were forced to a 2-2 tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to earn them their first point of the qualifiers and prolong Latvia’s winless run to several matches.

Spain’s Group

Spain maintained their impressive qualifying group campaign with a 2-0 victory over the Georgian side after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result extended the European champions’ flawless run in the qualifiers, having notched eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad demonstrated their superiority against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. The home side dominated the match with over eighty percent of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a clear chance, with only goalkeeper their keeper averting a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a well-executed dead-ball routine, and his compatriot wrapped up the victory in the second period with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had saved a Spanish player’s penalty.

Other Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a 6-1 victory over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in their section. The Spanish club’s a young talent was among the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad improved their prospects of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to Estonia, thanks to goals from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach commented: “We’re not thinking about Norway or Israel. We are aware of what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the previous two global tournaments, on two occasions missing out in the playoffs, and the dreaded backdoor route now appears their most likely opportunity after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on 18 points from six games. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. Estonia remain in fourth place on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up entering the qualifying stage.

The Italian national team host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically catch the group leaders on points, the leaders’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place likely beckons for the Italian squad.