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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for the Portuguese side with a injury-time winning goal in their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had denied a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during stoppage time to secure a 1-0 triumph, several seasons after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to defeat a resilient Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite regaining a significant amount of honor with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat puts them facing elimination, with their first three Group F games having produced only a single point. They must beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of claiming a playoff place.

Key Moments

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have earned Ireland a draw when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Outcomes

Group F

Hungary enhanced their chances of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, moving above their opponents into the runner-up spot behind Portugal in Group F. A Hungarian forward gave Hungary the lead in the opening period and a teammate secured the victory in late added time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now secure their qualification from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the only goal for Albania with a neat volley in first-half added time.

Latvia struggles in Group K continued as they were forced to a 2-2 draw at home by the Andorran team. An Andorran player scored for the visitors late on from time to claim them their first point of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s poor form 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’ perfect record in qualifying, having notched eleven strikes in three games without conceding.

Despite the absence of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game defending deep. Spain controlled the encounter with over eighty percent of the ball, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper averting a rout.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the victory in the second period with a stunning free kick after the Georgian keeper had saved a Spanish player’s penalty.

Other Results

• The Turkish national team bounced back with a 6-1 victory over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in Group E. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their hopes of at least reaching the knockout stage with a 3-1 win away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We know what we have to do.”

The Azzurri missed out for the previous two global tournaments, on two occasions 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 the Israeli side in Group I. The Norwegians are leading on 18 points from six matches. The Italians have twelve points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points ahead of Israel. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the playoffs.

The Italian national team face Israel on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically catch Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a playoff spot probably awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.