🔗 Share this article

The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for the Portuguese side with a injury-time decisive strike in their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had saved a penalty from the veteran forward.

Game Overview

Neves nodded in during injury time to secure a slender win, four years 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 point, but in the end left empty-handed, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a battling performance that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

However, the defeat puts them in a difficult position, with their first three Group F games having produced only a single point. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a playoff place.

Major Incidents

• Kelleher looked to have secured Ireland a point when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s effort had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Other Group Outcomes

Group F

The Hungarian team boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their first win with a two-goal triumph over the Armenian side, climbing above their rivals into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. Daniel Lukacs provided Hungary the advantage in the first half and a teammate made sure of the victory in late stoppage time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning England can now secure their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the only goal for Albania with a neat shot in late added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in their group continued as they were forced to a 2-2 draw at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors 12 minutes from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifiers and prolong Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain maintained their dominant Group E campaign with a 2-0 victory over Georgia after goals from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ flawless record in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three games without conceding.

In spite of the absence of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that passed most of the match defending deep. Spain controlled the encounter with over eighty percent of the ball, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or generate a clear chance, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a rout.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken dead-ball move, and his compatriot wrapped up the victory in the 64th minute with a stunning free kick after Mamardashvili had denied Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Other Scores

• The Turkish national team bounced back with a 6-1 victory over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in Group E. The Spanish club’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their prospects of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a 3-1 victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

The Azzurri failed to qualify for the previous two global tournaments, twice falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the feared backdoor route now looks their most likely opportunity after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over Israel in their qualifying group. Norway are top on eighteen points from six games. The Italians have twelve points with a game in hand on their competitors and are three points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia stay fourth on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the tournament, with the second-placed sides going into the qualifying stage.

Italy face Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement second spot and, while they can still theoretically overtake Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a playoff spot likely beckons for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.