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Rúben Neves was the hero for Portugal with a injury-time winner in their World Cup qualifying encounter against Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had kept out a penalty from the veteran forward.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder found the net during stoppage time to snatch a slender triumph, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace at the death to overcome a stubborn Irish side.

The Irish squad appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but in the end suffered defeat, despite regaining a significant amount of honor with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them facing elimination, with their initial trio of Group F games having yielded only a solitary point. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of claiming a qualifying place.

Key Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a point when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s effort had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of added time when he headed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Additional Group Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their hopes of advancing by securing their first win with a two-goal triumph over the Armenian side, moving above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided Hungary the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the victory in second-half added time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now seal their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the only goal for Albania with a well-taken volley in first-half added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in Group K persisted 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 qualifiers and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Group E

Spain maintained their dominant qualifying group campaign with a 2-0 victory over Georgia after goals from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ perfect run in the qualifiers, having notched 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

In spite of the absence of players such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that spent most of the match defending deep. The home side dominated the match with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a rout.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken set-piece move, and his compatriot wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a stunning free kick after Mamardashvili had denied Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team bounced back with a 6-1 thrashing over the Bulgarian side to keep the pressure on the group leaders in Group E. The Spanish club’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad boosted their prospects of at least reaching the knockout stage with a comfortable win away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “Our focus isn’t on the group leaders or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the previous two World Cups, on two occasions missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now appears their most likely opportunity after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive win over the Israeli side in Group I. The Norwegians are top on eighteen points from six matches. The Italians have 12 points with a match less played on their rivals and are three points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia remain fourth on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the qualifying stage.

Italy host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would secure second spot and, while they can still theoretically catch the group leaders on the table, the leaders’ far superior goal difference means a qualifying place likely awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.