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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for Portugal with a injury-time winner in their World Cup clash against the Republic of Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had kept out a penalty from the veteran forward.

Game Overview

The Wolves midfielder found the net during stoppage time to snatch a narrow victory, several seasons after Ronaldo had scored twice late on to overcome a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a battling display that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing loss in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them facing elimination, with their initial trio of qualifying group games having yielded only a solitary point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a qualifying place.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• Neves saved Portugal in the opening moments of added time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Results

Group F

Hungary enhanced their hopes of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal triumph over the Armenian side, climbing above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in Group F. A Hungarian forward provided his team the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half stoppage time.

Group K

Serbia slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now seal their passage from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the only goal for his team with a neat shot in first-half stoppage time.

Latvia struggles in Group K continued as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the away side late on from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s winless run to several matches.

Spain’s Group

Spain continued their impressive qualifying group run with a comfortable win over the Georgian side after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result extended the European champions’ perfect run in the qualifiers, having notched eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

Despite the absence of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and Rodri due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their dominance against a Georgia team that passed most of the match defending deep. The home side controlled the match with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a expertly taken set-piece move, and Oyarzabal secured the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had saved a Spanish player’s penalty.

Additional Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over the Bulgarian side to keep the pressure on Spain in their section. The Spanish club’s a young talent was among the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their prospects of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach said: “We’re not thinking about the group leaders or Israel. We are aware of what we have to do.”

The Azzurri failed to qualify for the last two global tournaments, twice missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared backdoor route now looks their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over Israel in Group I. Norway are leading on 18 points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of their next opponents. The Estonian squad stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the tournament, with the second-placed sides going into the qualifying stage.

The Italian national team face their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would secure second spot and, while they can still theoretically catch the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place likely beckons for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.