World Cup qualifiers, Group F: Portugal 1 (Neves 91) Rep of Ireland 0
After 91 minutes of complete dominance, Portugal finally, agonisingly, broke the Republic of Ireland’s steely resolve.
The goal came from a Rúben Neves header as the midfielder ghosted between exhausted Irish defenders to secure all three points and put Roberto Martinez’s side on track to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
If Portugal beat Hungary in Lisbon on Tuesday, and Ireland avoid defeat to Armenia in Dublin, they will win Group F with two matches to spare.
“Chest, Chest,” pleaded Dara O’Shea as Nathan Collins shooed the other Ireland players away from Slovak referee Ivan Kružliak.
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There was 75 minutes on the clock when the match official signalled a penalty after O’Shea rushed out to block Francisco Trincao’s shot.
One replay looked like a hand ball, another angle looked like the it smacked the Ipswich centre-half’s chest.
The Dutch VAR Clay Ruperti backed his match official.
Up stepped Cristiano Ronaldo. He might be 40 years old but his six goals in his last five appearances for Seleção das Quinas suggested a routine finish was coming.
The penalty was drilled down the middle but Caoimhín Kelleher’s trailing leg hooked the ball for a corner.
As the 2,700 delirious Irish fans among the 48,821 inside Estádio José Alvalade celebrated, all hell broke loose down on the grass as Kruzliak appeared to indicate a re-take. Some choice words from Jayson Molumby earned the heroic Waterford midfielder a yellow card before the referee touched his ear piece and waved play on.
Portugal kept pouring forward and Ireland kept standing tall in the face of the most intense adversity imaginable.
Heimir Hallgrímsson’s team were compact and well organised for 91 minutes, with Nathan Collins at the heart of a back five. Hallgrímsson prefers a back four, but needs must in Lisbon.
The suggestion that Collins would step into midfield never materialised as Molumby and Josh Cullen worked like demons to disrupt the normally smooth flow of Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva.
The only obvious problem was the lack of Plan B when each Portuguese attack was shut down.
The hosts made an early decision to let Ireland beat themselves. O’Shea and Jake O’Brien were continually on the ball with acres of grass ahead of them as the host’s patiently waited for the Irish defenders to cough up possession.
On four occasions in the opening 45 minutes, O’Shea, Collins and O’Brien passed the ball straight out of play. Clearly, the brittleness on display in Yerevan last month, when Ireland lost 2-1 to Armenia, had not gone away.
Ronaldo sensed as much, letting fly with a left-foot shot from outside the box that beat Kelleher and hit the butt of the post.
Silva is still wondering how he put the rebound wide of an open net.
Hallgrímsson had shaken up his squad with Séamus Coleman, Festy Ebosele and Molumby parachuted into the team having been overlooked for the opening qualifiers against Hungary and Armenia.
The selection error from September was immediately apparent as Coleman’s return proved to be inspirational, with an interception by Rúben Dias denying Chiedozie Ogbene a chance from the former captain’s clipped pass.
But it was Ebosele who threatened to unlock Portugal. The Istanbul Basaksehir winger had an eventful night down the right, either cutting dangerous crosses into the box or taking on the best left back in the world.
Nuno Mendes was on high alert after Ebosele dropped the shoulder and muscled past him in the 24th minute before the final ball was too high for Ogbene.
Ebosele was bewildered after receiving a yellow card for an innocuous foul on Mendes that prompted Portugal manager Roberto Martinez to rip into Enniscorthy’s finest footballer. Assistant Ireland coach Paddy McCarthy was also booked by Kruzliak for protesting too much.
Ebosele was mystified 10 minutes later when Goncalo Inácio avoided a yellow for a blatant kick as he tried to spring an Irish counter attack. Inácio hurt himself in the process and did not reappear for the second-half.
Kelleher was always going to have a busy night, but his instinctive save when Inácio beat Molumby to the umpteenth Mendes corner to the front post kept Ireland in the contest.
The same must be said for Collins spreading his giant frame to deny Silva from close range at the end of the first-half
As Hallgrímsson had foreseen, a perfect Ireland performance might only earn them a point. But this was less than perfect, more honest and solid without the ball. In possession, the usual failings were apparent.
Ronaldo seemed determined to score his fifth goal against Ireland since 2021 with his left boot. A sublime piece of skill stood O’Shea up but he shot wide.
With no out ball for Ireland, as Evan Ferguson was back defending on the edge of his own box, the rules of engagement were set. Portugal would keep piling forward, overlapping and probing until the damn burst.
Kelleher was a study in time wasting, so much so that Ronaldo lost his cool with the Cork man, demanding he speed up his restarts. That petulant act appeared to force Kruzliak into action and Kelleher temporarily increased the tempo.
The official eventually flashed a yellow at the Brentford goalkeeper, not long after he parried two low efforts from Vitinha.
Ireland were playing smart, with everyone getting a breather when Ebosele was injured on the hour mark. That also prompted Martinez into action with a triple substitution as, surprisingly, Vitinha, the engine of the Portugal team, made way for Nelson Semedo.
The song remained the same. Portugal went from side to side where they continually encountered two or three Irish men.
The outstanding Cullen will miss Tuesday’s match against Armenia after picking up his second booking of the campaign.
As seven minutes of injury-time was announced, an astonishing stat-line had Portugal leading the attempts on goal by 27 to one.
The 28th attempt finally beat Kelleher as Trincao picked out Neves with a header that produced an ear-splitting noise.
The silence had been perfect.
PORTUGAL: Costa; Dalot (Trincao 62), Inácio (Veiga 46), Dias, Mendes; Neves, Vitinha (Semedo 62); Neto (Leao 62), Fernandes (Ramos 86), Silva; Ronaldo.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Kelleher; Coleman (Egan 86), O’Brien, Collins, O’Shea, Manning; Ebosele (Johnston 63), Molumby, Cullen, Ogbene (Smallbone 77); Ferguson (Parrott 77).
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (Slovakia).
