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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for the Portuguese side with a injury-time winner in their World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had kept out a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Game Overview

The Wolves midfielder headed home during injury time to snatch a narrow victory, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to defeat a resilient Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of honor with a battling performance that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s disappointing loss in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them in a difficult position, with their first three qualifying group games having yielded only a single draw. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any hope of claiming a qualifying place.

Key Moments

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have secured Ireland a point when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s effort had struck Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the opening moments of stoppage time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Qualifying Results

Group F

Hungary boosted their chances of advancing by picking up their first win with a 2-0 triumph over Armenia, moving above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the lead in the first half and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the victory in late stoppage time.

England’s Group

Serbia suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the decisive strike for Albania with a neat volley in first-half added time.

Latvia struggles in their group continued as they were forced to a two-all draw at home by the Andorran team. An Andorran player scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to earn them their initial draw of the qualifiers and prolong Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team continued their dominant Group E run with a comfortable victory over Georgia after goals from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ perfect run in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three games without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to injuries, the Spanish squad demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that passed most of the match sitting back. Spain dominated the match with more than 80% possession, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or generate a clear chance, with only shot-stopper their keeper averting a rout.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken set-piece move, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a spectacular set-piece after Mamardashvili had denied a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Additional Results

• Turkey bounced back with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in their section. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was among the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

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

The Azzurri failed to qualify for the last two global tournaments, twice missing out in the playoffs, and the dreaded playoff path now looks their most likely chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. Norway are top on 18 points from six matches. Italy have 12 points with a game in hand on their rivals and are a trio of points clear of their next opponents. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides entering the playoffs.

Italy host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically overtake the group leaders on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a playoff spot probably beckons for the Italian squad.