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Rúben Neves saved the day for the Portuguese side with a injury-time winning goal in their World Cup qualifying encounter against Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder found the net during added time to claim a 1-0 victory, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace at the death to overcome a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a gritty performance that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the defeat leaves them in a difficult position, with their first three qualifying group games having produced only a solitary point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of securing a playoff place.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s effort had struck Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• Neves saved Portugal in the opening moments of stoppage time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their hopes of qualifying by securing their first win with a two-goal victory over Armenia, moving above their rivals into second place behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the lead in the opening period and a teammate made sure of the points in late stoppage time.

Group K

The Serbian national team suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning England can now seal their passage from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the decisive strike for his team with a neat volley in first-half added time.

Latvia difficulties in Group K continued as they were forced to a two-all draw at home by Andorra. An Andorran player found the net for the visitors late on from time to earn them their first point of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Spain’s Group

Spain maintained their dominant Group E run with a comfortable victory over Georgia after strikes from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in the match venue. The result extended the title holders’ perfect run in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three matches without letting in a goal.

In spite of the unavailability of players such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that spent the majority of the game sitting back. The home side dominated the encounter with over eighty percent of the ball, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a rout.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a well-executed set-piece routine, and his compatriot wrapped up the win in the second period with a stunning free kick after the Georgian keeper had saved Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team bounced back with a comprehensive thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to the group leaders in Group E. The Spanish club’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• Italy improved their hopes of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “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 World Cups, on two occasions falling short in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now appears their most likely opportunity after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 hammering over the Israeli side in Group I. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six games. Italy have 12 points with a match less played on their rivals and are a trio of points clear of their next opponents. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically catch Norway on the table, the leaders’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place probably beckons for the Italian squad.