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The Portuguese midfielder came to the rescue for the Portuguese side with a dramatic winning goal in their World Cup encounter against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had denied a penalty from the veteran forward.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder headed home during stoppage time to claim a narrow win, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought point, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of pride with a battling performance that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss leaves them staring down the barrel, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having produced only a solitary point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a qualifying spot.

Key Moments

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have earned Ireland a draw when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s effort had struck Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of added time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Results

Group F

The Hungarian team enhanced their chances of qualifying by securing their initial victory with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in the standings. A Hungarian forward gave his team the advantage in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in second-half stoppage time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning the Three Lions can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the decisive strike for his team with a well-taken shot in late added time.

The Latvian side struggles in Group K continued as they were held to a two-all draw at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors 12 minutes from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team maintained their dominant Group E run with a 2-0 win over the Georgian side after goals from Jéremy Pino and his teammate in the match venue. The result extended the European champions’ perfect record in qualifying, having notched eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of players such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their superiority against a Georgian team that passed most of the match sitting back. Spain controlled the encounter with more than 80% possession, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a rout.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a stunning free kick after Mamardashvili had saved a Spanish player’s penalty.

Additional Scores

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory away to Estonia, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach commented: “Our focus isn’t on the group leaders or our next opponents. 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 dreaded playoff path now appears their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over Israel in Group I. The Norwegians are leading on 18 points from six games. The Italians have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are three points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad remain in fourth place on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the tournament, with the second-placed sides going into the playoffs.

Italy host their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would secure second spot and, while they can still theoretically catch the group leaders on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a playoff spot likely beckons for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.