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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for the Portuguese side with a dramatic winner in their World Cup qualifying clash against Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had denied a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Summary

Neves found the net during added time to claim a narrow triumph, several seasons after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to defeat a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a well-earned draw, but in the end left empty-handed, despite restoring a good deal of pride with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them staring down the barrel, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having yielded only a solitary draw. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a playoff place.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a point when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s effort had hit 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 Kelleher.

Additional Qualifying Outcomes

Group F

Hungary enhanced their hopes of advancing by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in Group F. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the advantage in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in second-half added time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning England can now secure their qualification from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the only goal for Albania with a neat shot in first-half added time.

Latvia struggles in their group continued as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors 12 minutes from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team maintained their impressive qualifying group campaign with a 2-0 victory over Georgia after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The win extended the title holders’ perfect run in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side showcased their superiority against a Georgian team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. Spain dominated the match with more than 80% possession, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a well-executed set-piece routine, and Oyarzabal secured the win in the second period with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had saved Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Additional Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the goal-getters.
• Italy boosted their hopes of at least reaching the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the last two global tournaments, on two occasions falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded playoff path now appears their most likely opportunity after Norway’s comprehensive hammering over Israel in Group I. The Norwegians are top on eighteen points from six matches. Italy have 12 points with a match less played on their rivals and are a trio of points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia stay fourth on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically overtake Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a playoff spot probably awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.