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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for the Portuguese side with a dramatic decisive strike in their World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had denied a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during stoppage time to secure a slender win, several seasons after the star striker had scored twice late on to defeat a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned point, but in the end suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of pride with a battling display that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

However, the defeat puts them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of Group F games having produced only a solitary draw. They must beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any hope of claiming a qualifying place.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a draw when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the opening moments of stoppage time when he headed a delivery from the wing past Kelleher.

Additional Qualifying Results

Group F

Hungary boosted their chances of qualifying by securing their initial victory with a 2-0 victory over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. A Hungarian forward gave Hungary the advantage in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in second-half stoppage time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team suffered a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning England can now seal their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the only goal for Albania with a well-taken shot in first-half added time.

The Latvian side struggles in their group persisted as they were held to a two-all tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the away side late on from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain maintained their impressive qualifying group run with a comfortable victory over Georgia after strikes from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having scored 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

Despite the absence of players such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad showcased their superiority against a Georgian team that spent most of the match defending deep. Spain controlled the encounter with more than 80% possession, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a rout.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a well-executed dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal secured the victory in the 64th minute with a stunning free kick after Mamardashvili had saved Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a 3-1 victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

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

Italy missed out for the last two World Cups, twice falling short in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now looks their most likely chance after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive hammering over the Israeli side in Group I. Norway are top on 18 points from six matches. The Italians have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points clear of their next opponents. The Estonian squad stay fourth on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the tournament, with the second-placed sides entering the playoffs.

Italy host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically catch the group leaders on points, the leaders’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place probably awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.