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The Portuguese midfielder came to the rescue for the Portuguese side with a injury-time winning goal in their World Cup clash against Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder found the net during added time to claim a slender victory, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace at the death to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a well-earned draw, but in the end left empty-handed, despite regaining a significant amount of pride with a gritty performance that erased some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing loss in Armenia.

However, the defeat puts 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 hope of securing a qualifying spot.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have earned Ireland a point when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves saved Portugal in the opening moments of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Additional Group Results

Group F

The Hungarian team boosted their hopes of advancing by securing their initial victory with a 2-0 victory over Armenia, moving above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in Group F. Daniel Lukacs provided Hungary the advantage in the opening period and a teammate made sure of the victory in late added time.

England’s Group

Serbia slipped to a narrow loss at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning England can now secure their qualification from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for Albania with a well-taken shot in first-half stoppage time.

The Latvian side struggles in their group persisted as they were forced to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to claim them their first point of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team maintained their impressive Group E campaign with a 2-0 win over Georgia after strikes from a Spanish attacker and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The win continued the title holders’ flawless run in the qualifiers, having notched 11 goals 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, the Spanish squad demonstrated their superiority against a Georgian team that passed the majority of the game defending deep. Spain dominated the match with over eighty percent possession, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed set-piece routine, and his compatriot wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a stunning free kick after Mamardashvili had denied a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Other Scores

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a comprehensive victory over the Bulgarian side to stay close to the group leaders in their section. The Spanish club’s a young talent was among the goal-getters.
• Italy boosted their prospects of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable win away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “We’re not thinking about Norway or Israel. We are aware of our responsibilities.”

Italy failed to qualify for the previous two World Cups, on two occasions falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the feared backdoor route now looks their primary opportunity after Norway’s comprehensive hammering 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 competitors and are a trio of points clear of Israel. The Estonian squad remain fourth on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the tournament, with the second-placed sides entering the qualifying stage.

Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would cement second spot and, while they can still mathematically overtake Norway on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place likely awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.