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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for Portugal with a dramatic winning goal in their World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had denied a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder nodded in during injury time to claim a narrow victory, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to overcome a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a gritty display that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of Group F games having yielded only a single point. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any hope of securing a qualifying place.

Major Moments

• Kelleher seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Additional Qualifying Results

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team enhanced their hopes of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a 2-0 victory over Armenia, climbing above their opponents into second place behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided Hungary the advantage in the first half and a teammate secured the points in late stoppage time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning England can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat shot in late stoppage time.

The Latvian side difficulties in their group continued as they were forced to a two-all tie at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera scored for the away side 12 minutes from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

The Spanish national team maintained their impressive Group E campaign with a comfortable win over Georgia after goals from a Spanish attacker and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ flawless record in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three games without letting in a goal.

In spite of the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. The home side dominated the encounter with more than 80% of the ball, and Georgia did not have a single attempt on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed set-piece routine, and his compatriot wrapped up the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular set-piece after Mamardashvili had saved a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Other Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in their section. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was among the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their hopes of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a 3-1 victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach commented: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or our next opponents. We know our responsibilities.”

Italy failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, on two occasions falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded playoff path now appears their primary chance after Norway’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand on their competitors and are three points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team face Israel on Tuesday, where a victory would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically overtake Norway on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a playoff spot likely awaits for the Italian squad.