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Rúben Neves came to the rescue for the Portuguese side with a dramatic winning goal in their World Cup clash against the Republic of Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had denied a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Game Overview

Neves nodded in during stoppage time to claim a 1-0 triumph, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace at the death to defeat a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately left empty-handed, despite regaining a significant amount of honor with a battling display that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

However, the defeat leaves them facing elimination, 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 hope of securing a qualifying place.

Key Moments

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have secured Ireland a point when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s effort had hit Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the first minute of stoppage time when he headed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Other Group Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

Hungary enhanced their chances of advancing by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, moving above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind Portugal in the standings. A Hungarian forward gave his team the advantage in the opening period and a teammate made sure of the victory in late added time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning England can now seal their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the only goal for his team with a neat shot in first-half added time.

The Latvian side struggles in their group continued as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the away side 12 minutes 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 qualifying group run with a 2-0 victory over the Georgian side after strikes from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in Elche. The win continued the European champions’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having notched 11 goals in three games without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their dominance against a Georgia team that spent most of the match sitting back. The home side controlled the encounter with more than 80% possession, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a rout.

Pino opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a well-executed set-piece routine, and his compatriot secured the win in the 64th minute with a stunning set-piece after the Georgian keeper had denied Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Other Results

• The Turkish national team bounced back with a 6-1 victory over Bulgaria to stay close to the group leaders in their section. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was among the goal-getters.
• Italy improved their hopes of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable win away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the last two global tournaments, twice missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now looks their primary opportunity after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over Israel in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are top on eighteen points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a match less played on their rivals and are a trio of points clear of their next opponents. Estonia stay fourth on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically catch the group leaders on points, the leaders’ much better goal ratio means a playoff spot probably awaits for the Italian squad.