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Rúben Neves was the hero for Portugal with a last-gasp winning goal in their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had saved a spot-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during added time to claim a 1-0 victory, several seasons after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to defeat a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned draw, but ultimately left empty-handed, despite regaining a significant amount of pride with a battling performance that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss leaves them staring down the barrel, with their first three qualifying group games having produced only a single draw. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of claiming a playoff spot.

Major Incidents

• Kelleher seemed to have earned Ireland a draw when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s effort had hit Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• Neves saved Portugal in the first minute of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Other Group Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team boosted their hopes of qualifying by securing their first win with a 2-0 triumph over the Armenian side, moving above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in the standings. A Hungarian forward gave Hungary the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in late added time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning England can now secure their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for Albania with a well-taken shot in late stoppage time.

Latvia difficulties in their group persisted as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

Spain maintained their impressive qualifying group campaign with a 2-0 win over the Georgian side after goals from a Spanish attacker and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The win continued the European champions’ perfect record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three games without conceding.

Despite the absence of players such as a talented winger, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, the Spanish squad demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. Spain controlled the encounter with more than 80% of the ball, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or generate a clear chance, with only goalkeeper their keeper averting a rout.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a well-executed dead-ball move, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the victory in the second period with a spectacular set-piece after the Georgian keeper had saved Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Additional Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a 6-1 thrashing over the Bulgarian side to keep the pressure on the group leaders in Group E. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the goal-getters.
• Italy improved their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and a third scorer.

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

Italy missed out for the last two global tournaments, on two occasions missing out in the playoffs, and the feared backdoor route now appears their most likely chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 hammering over Israel in Group I. Norway are top on 18 points from six matches. Italy have 12 points with a game in hand on their competitors and are three points ahead of Israel. Estonia remain fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the tournament, with the second-placed sides entering the playoffs.

Italy host their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically catch Norway on the table, the leaders’ far superior goal difference means a qualifying place likely awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.