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Rúben Neves came to the rescue for Portugal with a last-gasp decisive strike in their World Cup encounter against Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Summary

Neves found the net during injury time to snatch a 1-0 victory, several seasons after Ronaldo had scored twice late on to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but in the end left empty-handed, despite regaining a significant amount of pride with a battling display that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the defeat puts them staring down the barrel, with their first three Group F matches having produced only a solitary point. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a qualifying spot.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have earned Ireland a draw when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s effort had struck Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• Neves saved Portugal in the first minute of stoppage time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their hopes of qualifying by securing their initial victory with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, moving above their opponents into second place behind Portugal in Group F. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the advantage in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the victory in late added time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow loss at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now secure their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the decisive strike for Albania with a neat shot in late stoppage time.

The Latvian side struggles in Group K persisted as they were forced to a 2-2 tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors late on from time to claim them their first point of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team maintained their dominant qualifying group campaign with a comfortable victory over the Georgian side after strikes from a Spanish attacker and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The win continued the title holders’ flawless record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three games without letting in a goal.

Despite the unavailability of players such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that spent the majority of the game 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 create a clear chance, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a rout.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a well-executed set-piece routine, and Oyarzabal secured the victory in the second period with a stunning set-piece after Mamardashvili had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• Turkey bounced back with a 6-1 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 boosted their hopes 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 a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “Our focus isn’t on the group leaders or Israel. We know our responsibilities.”

The Azzurri missed out for the previous two global tournaments, twice missing out in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now looks their most likely opportunity after Norway’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. Norway are leading on eighteen points from six matches. The Italians have twelve points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points clear of Israel. The Estonian squad remain fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the qualifying stage.

Italy face Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically catch the group leaders on the table, the Norwegians’ far superior goal ratio means a qualifying place probably beckons for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.