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The Portuguese midfielder came to the rescue for the Portuguese side with a last-gasp decisive strike in their World Cup match against Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had denied a penalty from the veteran forward.

Game Overview

The Wolves midfielder nodded in during added time to claim a 1-0 win, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace at the death to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought point, but in the end suffered defeat, despite restoring a significant amount of honor with a gritty performance that erased some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them facing elimination, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having produced only a single point. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a playoff spot.

Major Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s arm.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of stoppage time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Group F

The Hungarian team enhanced their hopes of advancing by picking up their first win with a 2-0 victory over the Armenian side, climbing above their opponents into second place behind Portugal in Group F. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the points in second-half added time.

England’s Group

Serbia suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning England can now secure their qualification from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker netted the decisive strike for Albania with a neat shot in first-half added time.

Latvia difficulties in their group persisted as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by the Andorran team. An Andorran player scored for the away side late on from time to claim them their first point of the qualifying campaign and prolong Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Group E

The Spanish national team continued their dominant Group E campaign with a comfortable victory over the Georgian side after goals from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The win continued the European champions’ flawless record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without letting in a goal.

In spite of the unavailability of key figures such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. Spain dominated the encounter with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper their keeper averting a rout.

The scorer broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken set-piece move, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the win in the 64th minute with a spectacular free kick after Mamardashvili had saved Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to stay close to Spain in their section. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was among the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their prospects of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a 3-1 victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “We’re not thinking about the group leaders or Israel. We are aware of what we have to do.”

Italy failed to qualify for the last two World Cups, on two occasions missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now appears their most likely opportunity after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in Group I. Norway 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. Estonia remain fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the playoffs.

Italy face their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically overtake Norway on points, the leaders’ much better goal ratio means a playoff spot probably awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.