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The Portuguese midfielder was the hero for the Portuguese side with a dramatic winning goal in their World Cup qualifying encounter against the Republic of Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had saved a spot-kick from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Match Overview

Neves nodded in during stoppage time to secure a slender victory, four years after Ronaldo had scored twice at the death to overcome a stubborn Irish side.

Heimir Hallgrímsson’s men looked set to leave Lisbon with a well-earned draw, but in the end left empty-handed, despite restoring a significant amount of pride with a gritty display that overshadowed some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

Nevertheless, the loss puts them facing elimination, with their first three Group F games having yielded only a single point. They need to defeat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to maintain any chance of claiming a qualifying place.

Key Moments

• Kelleher looked to have secured Ireland a draw when he brilliantly kept out Ronaldo’s penalty with his trailing leg after a Portuguese player’s effort had hit Dara O’Shea’s hand.
• Neves 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 chances of qualifying by picking up their initial victory with a 2-0 victory over Armenia, climbing above their opponents into second place behind the group leaders in the standings. Daniel Lukacs provided Hungary the advantage in the opening period and Zsombor Gruber secured the victory in second-half added time.

England’s Group

Serbia suffered a 1-0 loss at home to Albania, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now secure their qualification from Group K by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj netted the decisive strike for Albania with a neat shot in late stoppage time.

Latvia struggles in their group persisted as they were held to a 2-2 tie at home by Andorra. An Andorran player found the net for the away side late on from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s winless run to five games.

Group E

The Spanish national team maintained their impressive qualifying group campaign with a 2-0 victory over Georgia after goals from a Spanish attacker and his teammate in Elche. The result continued the European champions’ perfect run in qualifying, having scored eleven strikes in three matches without conceding.

In spite of the absence of key figures such as Lamine Yamal, another forward, and the midfield anchor due to injuries, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their dominance against a Georgia team that spent the majority of the game defending deep. The home side controlled the match with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or create a clear chance, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a heavy defeat.

Pino opened the scoring in the first half from a well-executed dead-ball routine, and Oyarzabal secured the win in the 64th minute with a spectacular set-piece after Mamardashvili had denied Ferran Torres’s penalty.

Other Scores

• 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 one of the goal-getters.
• The Italian squad boosted their hopes of at least making the knockout stage with a 3-1 victory away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from Moise Kean, Mateo Retegui, and a third scorer.

Gennaro Gattuso said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or Israel. We are aware of our responsibilities.”

Italy missed out for the last two World Cups, twice missing out in the qualifying rounds, and the feared playoff path now appears their primary chance after the Norwegian team’s 5-0 win over the Israeli side in their qualifying group. Norway are top on 18 points from six games. The Italians have twelve points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points clear of their next opponents. The Estonian squad remain in fourth place on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up entering the playoffs.

The Italian national team 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’ far superior goal difference means a qualifying place probably awaits for Gennaro Gattuso’s side.