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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for the Portuguese side with a injury-time decisive strike in their World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had saved a spot-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Game Summary

Neves headed home during stoppage time to secure a narrow victory, four years after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to overcome 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 regaining a good deal of pride with a gritty performance that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the loss leaves them facing elimination, with their initial trio of Group F matches having yielded only a solitary point. 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 draw when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after a Portuguese player’s effort 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 Results

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team boosted their chances of advancing by securing their initial victory with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into second place behind Portugal in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the lead in the first half and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the victory in late added time.

Group K

Serbia slipped to a 1-0 loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning England can now secure their passage from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the decisive strike for his team with a neat volley in first-half stoppage time.

Latvia difficulties in their group continued as they were forced to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. An Andorran player found the net for the visitors late on from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s winless run to several matches.

Spain’s Group

Spain continued their impressive qualifying group campaign 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 record in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

In spite of the unavailability of players such as a talented winger, another forward, and Rodri due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their superiority against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game defending deep. Spain dominated the match with over eighty percent of the ball, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal secured the win in the 64th minute with a stunning free kick after the Georgian keeper had saved a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in Group E. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was among the goal-getters.
• Italy boosted their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

The Italian coach said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We are aware of our responsibilities.”

The Azzurri failed to qualify for the last 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 win over the Israeli side in Group I. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six matches. Italy have 12 points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad remain in fourth place on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides going into the qualifying stage.

Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically catch Norway on points, the leaders’ far superior goal ratio means a qualifying place likely awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.