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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for Portugal with a injury-time winner in their World Cup match against the Republic of Ireland, following the Irish goalkeeper had saved a penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Game Summary

Neves nodded in during stoppage time to claim a slender victory, several seasons after the star striker had bagged a brace late on to defeat a stubborn Irish side.

The Irish squad appeared poised to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought point, but in the end left empty-handed, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a battling display that overshadowed some of the recollections of last month’s embarrassing loss in Armenia.

However, the defeat leaves them in a difficult position, with their initial trio of qualifying group matches having yielded only a single draw. They must defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of claiming a qualifying 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 Francisco Trincão’s effort had hit an Irish defender’s hand.
• The match-winner came to his side’s rescue in the first minute of added time when he headed a delivery from the wing past the Irish goalkeeper.

Other Group Results

Portugal’s Group

The Hungarian team enhanced their chances of qualifying by securing their first win with a two-goal triumph over Armenia, moving above their opponents into the runner-up spot behind the group leaders in Group F. Daniel Lukacs gave his team the advantage in the first half and Zsombor Gruber secured the victory in late stoppage time.

Group K

Serbia suffered a narrow loss at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning England can now secure their qualification from Group K by beating Latvia on Tuesday. An Albanian striker scored the only goal for Albania with a well-taken shot in first-half stoppage time.

The Latvian side difficulties in their group continued as they were forced to a two-all draw at home by Andorra. Ian Olivera found the net for the visitors late on from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifying campaign and extend Latvia’s poor form to five games.

Group E

The Spanish national team maintained their dominant qualifying group run with a comfortable win over the Georgian side after goals from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in Elche. The win continued the European champions’ perfect record in the qualifiers, having scored eleven strikes in three games without conceding.

Despite the absence of players such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, 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 possession, and the visitors did not have a single attempt on target or generate a clear chance, with only shot-stopper their keeper preventing a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed dead-ball routine, and his compatriot secured the win in the 64th minute with a stunning set-piece after the Georgian keeper had denied Ferran Torres’s spot-kick.

Additional Results

• Turkey bounced back with a 6-1 thrashing over the Bulgarian side to stay close to Spain in their section. Real Madrid’s a young talent was one of the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a comfortable win away to Estonia, thanks to strikes from a forward, another attacker, and Francesco Pio Esposito.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or our next opponents. 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 playoffs, and the feared playoff path now looks their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s comprehensive hammering over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. The Norwegians are leading on eighteen points from six games. The Italians have twelve points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points clear of Israel. The Estonian squad remain in fourth place on three points. The top teams qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up going into the playoffs.

The Italian national team host their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still theoretically overtake Norway on the table, the leaders’ much better goal difference means a qualifying place likely awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.