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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for Portugal with a dramatic winning goal in their World Cup match against Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had denied a penalty from the veteran forward.

Match Summary

Neves found the net during injury time to snatch a narrow triumph, four years after Ronaldo had bagged a brace at the death to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

The Irish squad looked set to leave Lisbon with a well-earned point, but in the end suffered defeat, despite regaining a significant amount of honor with a gritty performance that erased some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

However, the defeat puts them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of Group F games having yielded only a solitary draw. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of securing a qualifying place.

Major Moments

• Kelleher looked to have earned Ireland a draw when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after Francisco Trincão’s shot had hit an Irish defender’s arm.
• The match-winner saved Portugal in the opening moments of added time when he headed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Other Group Outcomes

Portugal’s Group

Hungary enhanced their hopes of qualifying by picking up their first win with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the lead in the first half and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the victory 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 the Three Lions can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for his team with a well-taken volley in late added time.

The Latvian side difficulties in Group K persisted as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the away side 12 minutes from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

Spain continued their impressive qualifying group run with a comfortable victory over the Georgian side after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result extended the title holders’ flawless record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without letting in a goal.

In spite of the absence of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgian team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. Spain controlled the encounter with over eighty percent of the ball, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a heavy defeat.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a well-executed dead-ball routine, and his compatriot secured the win in the second period with a stunning free kick after the Georgian keeper had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Other Results

• The Turkish national team bounced back with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in Group E. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the goal-getters.
• Italy boosted their prospects of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a 3-1 win away to Estonia, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

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

Italy missed out for the previous two global tournaments, twice missing out in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now looks their primary opportunity after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six games. The Italians have 12 points with a game in hand on their competitors and are three points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad remain in fourth place on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team host their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would secure second spot and, while they can still theoretically overtake the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ far superior goal ratio means a playoff spot likely beckons for the Italian squad.