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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for Portugal with a dramatic winning goal in their World Cup encounter against the Republic of Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Overview

Neves headed home during stoppage time to snatch a narrow triumph, several seasons after Ronaldo had scored twice late on to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

The Irish squad appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought point, but in the end left empty-handed, despite restoring 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 loss puts them staring down the barrel, with their initial trio of Group F matches having yielded only a single draw. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of claiming a qualifying place.

Major Moments

• Kelleher looked to have secured Ireland a point when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s effort had struck Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of stoppage time when he directed a delivery from the wing past Kelleher.

Other Qualifying Outcomes

Group F

Hungary boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in Group F. A Hungarian forward gave his team the advantage in the first half and Zsombor Gruber secured the victory in late stoppage time.

Group K

The Serbian national team suffered a 1-0 loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning England can now seal their passage from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat shot in late stoppage time.

The Latvian side struggles in Group K persisted as they were forced to a 2-2 draw at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain maintained their impressive Group E run with a 2-0 win over the Georgian side after goals from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result extended the European champions’ flawless record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, the Spanish squad showcased their superiority against a Georgia team that spent the majority of the game defending deep. Spain dominated the encounter with more than 80% of the ball, and Georgia did not have a single attempt on target or generate a clear chance, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken set-piece move, and Oyarzabal secured the win in the second period with a stunning set-piece after Mamardashvili had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in Group E. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was among the scorers.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least reaching the knockout stage with a comfortable win away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach commented: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or our next opponents. We know what we have to do.”

The Azzurri missed out for the last two global tournaments, on two occasions falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded playoff path now looks their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive hammering over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. Norway are top on 18 points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of Israel. Estonia stay fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team face their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would secure second spot and, while they can still theoretically overtake Norway on the table, the leaders’ much better goal difference means a qualifying place probably beckons for the Italian squad.