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The Portuguese midfielder saved the day for the Portuguese side with a injury-time winner in their World Cup clash against Ireland, after Caoimhín Kelleher had denied a penalty from the veteran forward.

Game Overview

Neves headed home during injury time to secure a narrow victory, several seasons after the star striker had scored twice at the death to overcome a resilient Irish side.

The Irish squad looked set to leave Lisbon with a hard-fought draw, but in the end suffered defeat, despite regaining a good deal of honor with a battling display that erased some of the memories of last month’s embarrassing defeat in Armenia.

However, the loss leaves them in a difficult position, with their first three qualifying group matches having yielded only a single draw. They need to beat Armenia in Dublin on Tuesday to keep alive any chance of claiming a playoff spot.

Key Moments

• Kelleher seemed to have secured 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 arm.
• Neves saved Portugal in the opening moments of stoppage time when he directed Trincão’s cross past the Irish goalkeeper.

Additional Group Outcomes

Group F

Hungary enhanced their hopes of advancing by securing their initial victory with a 2-0 victory over the Armenian side, moving above their opponents into the runner-up spot behind Portugal in Group F. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary the advantage in the first half and a teammate secured the victory in late stoppage time.

England’s Group

The Serbian national team suffered a narrow defeat at home to the Albanian squad, with the outcome meaning the Three Lions can now seal their passage from their qualifying group by defeating Latvia on Tuesday. Rey Manaj scored the decisive strike for Albania with a neat shot in late added time.

Latvia difficulties in their group continued as they were forced to a two-all tie at home by the Andorran team. An Andorran player found the net for the away side 12 minutes from time to claim them their initial draw of the qualifiers and extend Latvia’s poor form to several matches.

Spain’s Group

The Spanish national team continued their impressive Group E campaign with a comfortable win over Georgia after goals from Jéremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal in the match venue. The win continued the European champions’ perfect run in qualifying, having scored 11 goals in three matches without letting in a goal.

Despite the unavailability of players such as a talented winger, Nico Williams, and the midfield anchor due to fitness issues, Luis de la Fuente’s side demonstrated their superiority against a Georgia team that passed the majority of the game defending deep. Spain controlled the match with more than 80% of the ball, and the visitors did not have one shot on target or generate a scoring opportunity, with only shot-stopper Giorgi Mamardashvili averting a heavy defeat.

The scorer opened the scoring in the 24th minute from a well-executed set-piece move, and Oyarzabal wrapped up the victory in the 64th minute with a spectacular free kick after the Georgian keeper had denied a Spanish player’s spot-kick.

Other Scores

• Turkey returned to winning ways with a 6-1 thrashing over Bulgaria to keep the pressure on Spain in Group E. Real Madrid’s Arda Güler was one of the scorers.
• The Italian squad boosted their prospects of at least making the qualifying playoffs with a comfortable win away to the Estonian team, thanks to goals from a forward, another attacker, and a third scorer.

The Italian coach said: “We’re not thinking about Norway or Israel. We are aware of our responsibilities.”

The Azzurri missed out for the last two global tournaments, on two occasions falling short in the playoffs, and the feared playoff path now looks their primary opportunity after Norway’s comprehensive win over Israel in their qualifying group. Norway are leading on 18 points from six matches. Italy have twelve points with a match less played on their competitors and are three points ahead of Israel. The Estonian squad stay fourth on three points. The group winners qualify directly for the tournament, with the runners-up entering the qualifying stage.

The Italian national team face their rivals on Tuesday, where a victory would secure the runner-up position and, while they can still mathematically catch Norway on the table, the Norwegians’ much better goal ratio means a qualifying place likely beckons for the Italian squad.