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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for Portugal with a last-gasp decisive strike in their World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland, after the Irish goalkeeper had saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Overview

Neves headed home during injury time to claim a slender win, several seasons after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to defeat a resilient Irish side.

The Irish squad looked set to depart the Portuguese capital with a hard-fought point, but ultimately left empty-handed, despite regaining a significant amount of pride with a gritty performance that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the defeat leaves them facing elimination, with their initial trio of Group F matches having yielded only a single draw. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any hope of securing a playoff spot.

Major Incidents

• Kelleher seemed to have secured Ireland a draw when he superbly kept out Ronaldo’s spot-kick with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s shot had hit Dara O’Shea’s arm.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the opening moments of added time when he headed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

Hungary enhanced their hopes of advancing by picking up their first win with a 2-0 victory over Armenia, climbing above their rivals into second place behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided Hungary the lead in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber made sure of the points in late stoppage time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team slipped to a narrow defeat at home to Albania, with the result meaning England can now secure their passage from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the only goal for Albania with a well-taken volley in first-half added time.

The Latvian side struggles in their group persisted as they were held to a two-all draw at home by Andorra. An Andorran player found the net for the away side late on from time to earn them their first point of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Group E

Spain maintained their impressive qualifying group run with a 2-0 win over Georgia after strikes from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The result continued the title holders’ flawless run in qualifying, having scored 11 goals in three games without conceding.

In spite of the unavailability of players such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, the Spanish squad demonstrated their superiority against a Georgian team that passed the majority of the game sitting back. Spain dominated the match with over eighty percent possession, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or create a scoring opportunity, with only goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a rout.

The scorer opened the scoring in the first half from a expertly taken set-piece routine, and his compatriot wrapped up the win in the second period with a stunning free kick after Mamardashvili had saved Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Additional Results

• The Turkish national team returned to winning ways with a 6-1 victory over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in Group E. The Spanish club’s Arda Güler was among the scorers.
• The Italian squad boosted their prospects of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a 3-1 victory away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from Moise Kean, another attacker, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “Our focus isn’t on Norway or our next opponents. We are aware of what we have to do.”

Italy missed out for the previous two global tournaments, twice falling short in the qualifying rounds, and the dreaded backdoor route now looks their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 hammering over the Israeli side in Group I. Norway are leading on eighteen points from six games. Italy have 12 points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points ahead of their next opponents. Estonia stay in fourth place on three points. The top teams advance automatically for the tournament, with the runners-up going into the qualifying stage.

Italy host their rivals on Tuesday, where a win would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically overtake the group leaders on the table, the leaders’ much better goal difference means a playoff spot likely beckons for the Italian squad.