Stoppage-Time Strike from Rúben Neves Sinks the Irish After Caoimhín Kelleher Stops Ronaldo Penalty

Rúben Neves came to the rescue for Portugal with a last-gasp winning goal in their World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had denied a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Game Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during injury time to secure a narrow victory, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to defeat a stubborn Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to leave Lisbon with a well-earned draw, but in the end suffered defeat, despite restoring a good deal of honor with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat leaves them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of qualifying group games having produced only a single point. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of claiming a playoff spot.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a point when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s effort had struck Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of stoppage time when he directed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Additional Qualifying Results

Group F

The Hungarian team boosted their hopes of advancing by picking up their first win with a 2-0 victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their opponents into second place behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the advantage in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in late stoppage time.

England’s Group

Serbia suffered a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the result meaning the Three Lions can now seal their qualification from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for Albania with a well-taken volley in late stoppage time.

Latvia struggles in their group continued as they were forced to a two-all draw at home by the Andorran team. An Andorran player found the net for the away side 12 minutes from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain continued their dominant qualifying group campaign with a comfortable victory over Georgia after strikes from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in the match venue. The result extended the title holders’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having scored 11 goals in three games without letting in a goal.

In spite of the absence of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and Rodri due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their superiority against a Georgian team that passed most of the match defending deep. Spain dominated the match with over eighty percent of the ball, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or create a clear chance, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a rout.

Pino opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a well-executed dead-ball move, and Oyarzabal secured the victory in the 64th minute with a stunning set-piece after Mamardashvili had denied a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a 6-1 victory over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in Group E. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their prospects of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We are aware of what we have to do.”

Italy failed to qualify for the previous two World Cups, on two occasions missing out in the playoffs, and the dreaded backdoor route now looks their most likely chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in Group I. Norway are top on 18 points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a match less played on their competitors and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. Estonia remain in fourth place on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the tournament, with the second-placed sides going into the qualifying stage.

Italy host Israel on Tuesday, where a victory would secure second spot and, while they can still mathematically overtake the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a qualifying place probably beckons for the Italian squad.