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Rúben Neves saved the day for Portugal with a dramatic decisive strike in their World Cup qualifying match against the Republic of Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had denied a spot-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Game Overview

Neves headed home during added time to secure a 1-0 victory, four years after the star striker had scored twice late on to overcome a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought point, but in the end left empty-handed, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a gritty display that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat puts them staring down the barrel, with their initial trio of qualifying group games having yielded only a single draw. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of securing a qualifying spot.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a draw when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s effort had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves saved Portugal in the first minute of stoppage time when he directed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Additional Qualifying Results

Group F

The Hungarian team boosted their chances of qualifying by securing their initial victory with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, moving above their rivals into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the advantage in the first half and a teammate made sure of the points in late added time.

Group K

Serbia slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now secure their passage from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the decisive strike for his team with a well-taken shot in first-half added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in Group K continued as they were held to a two-all 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 poor form to several matches.

Group E

The Spanish national team maintained their impressive Group E run with a comfortable win over Georgia after strikes from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in the match venue. The result extended the European champions’ perfect run in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three games without letting in a goal.

In spite of the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their dominance against a Georgia team that spent the majority of the game sitting back. Spain dominated the match with more than 80% of the ball, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken dead-ball routine, and his compatriot secured the victory in the second period with a spectacular free kick after Mamardashvili had saved Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in Group E. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach commented: “We’re not thinking about Norway or Israel. We know our responsibilities.”

Italy failed to qualify for the previous two World Cups, twice falling short in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now looks their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over Israel in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are top on eighteen points from six games. The Italians have twelve points with a match less played on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad stay in fourth place on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the playoffs.

Italy host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically overtake Norway on points, the leaders’ much better goal difference means a playoff spot probably beckons for the Italian squad.