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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for the Portuguese side with a injury-time decisive strike in their World Cup clash against Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Summary

The Wolves midfielder found the net during injury time to snatch a 1-0 victory, several seasons after Ronaldo had bagged a brace at the death to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately left empty-handed, despite restoring a good deal of honor with a battling display that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat leaves them staring down the barrel, with their first three qualifying group games having yielded only a single point. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any hope of securing a qualifying place.

Key Moments

• Kelleher seemed to have secured Ireland a point when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s effort had struck an Irish defender’s arm.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the first minute of stoppage time when he directed a delivery from the wing past Kelleher.

Other Qualifying Outcomes

Group F

Hungary boosted their chances of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a 2-0 victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in Group F. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the lead in the opening period and a teammate secured the points in late stoppage time.

England’s Group

Serbia slipped to a 1-0 loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning the Three Lions can now secure their passage from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat 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 the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifiers and prolong Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team maintained their dominant qualifying group campaign with a comfortable victory over Georgia after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The result continued the European champions’ perfect run in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three games without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of players such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, the Spanish squad showcased their dominance against a Georgian team that spent 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 scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a rout.

Pino opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a expertly taken dead-ball move, and his compatriot wrapped up the win in the second period with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had denied Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Additional Results

• Turkey bounced back with a 6-1 victory over the Bulgarian side to keep the pressure on Spain in Group E. Real Madrid’s a young talent was among the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable win away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

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

The Azzurri missed out for the last two global tournaments, on two occasions falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded backdoor route now appears their primary opportunity after Norway’s 5-0 hammering over Israel in Group I. Norway are top on 18 points from six games. The Italians have twelve points with a match less played on their competitors and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team face Israel on Tuesday, where a victory would cement second spot and, while they can still mathematically catch the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a playoff spot probably beckons for the Italian squad.