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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for the Portuguese side with a last-gasp winner in their World Cup qualifying encounter against the Republic of Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from the veteran forward.

Match Summary

Neves headed home during added time to snatch a 1-0 win, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to overcome a resilient Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought draw, but in the end left empty-handed, despite regaining a significant amount of pride with a battling display that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

However, the loss leaves them staring down the barrel, with their first three Group F matches having produced only a single draw. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a qualifying place.

Key Incidents

• The Liverpool keeper looked to have secured Ireland a point when he brilliantly saved Ronaldo’s penalty with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s arm.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of stoppage time when he directed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Additional Group Results

Group F

Hungary enhanced their hopes of advancing by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal victory over the Armenian side, moving above their rivals into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in Group F. Daniel Lukacs gave his team the lead in the first half and a teammate made sure of the points in second-half stoppage time.

England’s Group

Serbia suffered a narrow defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now secure their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the only goal for his team with a neat volley in first-half stoppage time.

Latvia struggles in Group K continued as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. An Andorran player scored for the away side 12 minutes from time to claim them their first point of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Spain’s Group

Spain maintained their impressive qualifying group run with a comfortable victory over Georgia after goals from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result continued the European champions’ flawless record in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three games without conceding.

Despite the unavailability of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and Rodri due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their superiority against a Georgian team that spent the majority of the game defending deep. Spain controlled the match with over eighty percent of the ball, and Georgia did not have one shot on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a heavy defeat.

Pino broke the deadlock in the 24th minute from a expertly taken dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal secured the victory in the second period with a spectacular set-piece after the Georgian keeper had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team bounced back with a comprehensive victory over the Bulgarian side to stay close to the group leaders in Group E. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad improved their hopes of at least reaching the qualifying playoffs with a 3-1 victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We are aware of what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the last two global tournaments, on two occasions falling short in the playoffs, and the dreaded backdoor route now appears their primary opportunity after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive win over Israel in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six games. Italy have 12 points with a game in hand on their competitors and are three points ahead of their next opponents. The Estonian squad remain fourth on three points. The group winners advance automatically for the tournament, with the second-placed sides going into the qualifying stage.

Italy host Israel on Tuesday, where a win would cement second spot and, while they can still mathematically catch the group leaders on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place probably awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.