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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for the Portuguese side with a injury-time winning goal in their World Cup qualifying clash against the Republic of Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had kept out a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Summary

The Wolves midfielder headed home during injury time to claim a narrow victory, several seasons after the star striker had bagged a brace at the death to defeat a stubborn Ireland team.

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 good deal of honor with a battling display that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

However, the loss puts them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having yielded only a solitary draw. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of claiming a qualifying place.

Major Moments

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have earned Ireland a point when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of stoppage time when he directed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team enhanced their hopes of advancing by securing their initial victory with a two-goal triumph over the Armenian side, moving above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind Portugal in Group F. Daniel Lukacs gave his team the advantage in the first half and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the victory in late added time.

Group K

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

Latvia struggles in their group continued as they were held to a two-all tie at home by the Andorran team. Ian Olivera scored for the away side 12 minutes from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team 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 continued the European champions’ perfect run in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes 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, the Spanish squad demonstrated their superiority against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. The home side dominated the encounter with over eighty percent possession, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken dead-ball move, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a stunning free kick after Mamardashvili had denied Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Other Scores

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was among the goal-getters.
• Italy improved their hopes of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable win away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

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

The Azzurri 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 chance after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive hammering over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six matches. The Italians have twelve points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points clear of their next opponents. The Estonian squad stay fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides entering the playoffs.

The Italian national team host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically overtake Norway on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place probably awaits for the Italian squad.