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The Portuguese midfielder came to the rescue for the Portuguese side with a dramatic decisive strike in their World Cup encounter against the Republic of Ireland, following Caoimhín Kelleher had kept out a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Game Summary

The Wolves midfielder nodded in during injury time to snatch a slender triumph, four years after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to overcome a resilient Ireland team.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a well-earned draw, but ultimately suffered defeat, despite regaining a significant amount of honor with a battling performance that erased some of the recollections of last month’s disappointing defeat in Armenia.

However, the loss puts them in a difficult position, with their first three Group F matches having produced only a solitary draw. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a qualifying place.

Major Moments

• Kelleher seemed to have earned Ireland a draw when he superbly saved Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his outstretched foot after Francisco Trincão’s shot had struck an Irish defender’s hand.
• Neves came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of added time when he directed Trincão’s cross past Kelleher.

Additional Group Results

Group F

The Hungarian team boosted their hopes of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, climbing above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in Group F. Daniel Lukacs provided his team the lead in the first half and a teammate made sure of the points in second-half stoppage time.

Group K

The Serbian national team slipped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now seal their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the decisive strike for his team with a neat shot in first-half stoppage time.

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

Group E

The Spanish national team maintained their dominant qualifying group campaign with a comfortable win over Georgia after goals from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in Elche. The win extended the European champions’ perfect record in qualifying, having notched 11 goals in three matches without conceding.

Despite the absence of players such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Rodri due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game defending deep. The home side controlled the match with more than 80% possession, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a clear chance, with only goalkeeper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

The scorer opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a well-executed set-piece move, 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 Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a comprehensive thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on the group leaders in Group E. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was one of the goal-getters.
• Italy boosted their hopes of at least reaching the knockout stage with a comfortable victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to strikes from a forward, Mateo Retegui, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso commented: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. We know our responsibilities.”

The Azzurri missed out for the last two global tournaments, on two occasions falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded playoff path now appears their primary chance after Norway’s comprehensive hammering over Israel in Group I. The Norwegians are top on 18 points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a game in hand on their competitors and are a trio of points clear of their next opponents. Estonia stay fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the second-placed sides going into the playoffs.

Italy face Israel on Tuesday, where a victory would secure second spot and, while they can still mathematically overtake Norway on points, the Norwegians’ much better goal difference means a qualifying place likely awaits for the Italian squad.