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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for Portugal with a injury-time winner in their World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder headed home during injury time to snatch a slender win, four years after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to defeat a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought point, but ultimately left empty-handed, despite regaining a good deal of honor with a battling display that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the loss puts them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having yielded only a solitary point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any hope of securing a playoff spot.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s arm.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the first minute of added time when he directed a delivery from the wing past Kelleher.

Other Qualifying Results

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team enhanced their chances of qualifying by picking up their first win with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the victory in second-half stoppage time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team slipped to a 1-0 loss at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now secure their passage from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the decisive strike for Albania with a well-taken shot in first-half added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in Group K continued as they were forced to a two-all draw at home by Andorra. 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.

Spain’s Group

Spain continued their dominant Group E run with a comfortable victory over Georgia after strikes from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in Elche. The result continued the European champions’ flawless record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without letting in a goal.

Despite the absence of key figures such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad showcased their dominance against a Georgian team that spent the majority of the game sitting back. Spain controlled the match with over eighty percent possession, 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.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a well-executed dead-ball move, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the win in the second period with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had denied a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a comprehensive thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was among the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their prospects of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable 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 our next opponents. We know what we have to do.”

The Azzurri missed out for the last two World Cups, twice missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared backdoor route now looks their most likely opportunity after Norway’s comprehensive win over Israel in their qualifying group. Norway are top on eighteen points from six games. The Italians have 12 points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points clear of their next opponents. The Estonian squad stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the qualifying stage.

The Italian national team host their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically catch the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a qualifying place likely beckons for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.