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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for Portugal with a last-gasp decisive strike in their World Cup qualifying match against Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Overview

Neves headed home during stoppage time to snatch a 1-0 triumph, several seasons after Ronaldo had bagged a brace late on to overcome a resilient Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of honor with a battling display that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the defeat puts them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of Group F games having yielded only a solitary draw. They must beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a playoff place.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s shot had hit an Irish defender’s arm.
• Neves saved Portugal in the opening moments of added time when he headed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary boosted their chances of qualifying by securing their initial victory with a 2-0 victory over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs gave his team the advantage in the first half and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half added time.

England’s Group

Serbia slipped to a narrow defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the result meaning the Three Lions can now seal their qualification from their qualifying group by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat shot in first-half added time.

Latvia struggles in Group K persisted as they were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the visitors 12 minutes from time to earn them their first point of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

Spain continued their dominant Group E campaign with a comfortable victory over the Georgian side after goals from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in the match venue. The win continued the European champions’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

Despite the absence of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to injuries, the Spanish squad showcased their superiority against a Georgian team that spent the majority of the game defending deep. Spain dominated the match with over eighty percent possession, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper their keeper averting a rout.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed set-piece routine, and his compatriot secured the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular set-piece after the Georgian keeper had denied a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Other Scores

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a 6-1 victory over the Bulgarian side to stay close to the group leaders in their section. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their prospects of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable victory away to Estonia, thanks to goals from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach commented: “Our focus isn’t on the group leaders or Israel. We know what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the previous two World Cups, on two occasions missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared backdoor route now appears their primary opportunity after Norway’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 twelve points with a game in hand on their rivals and are three points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the tournament, with the runners-up entering the qualifying stage.

The Italian national team face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would secure second spot and, while they can still mathematically overtake Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place probably awaits for the Italian squad.