Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes scored a clinical double as they beat stubborn visitors North Macedonia 2-0 to qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar after a tense European playoff tie on Tuesday.
Roared on by 50,000 fans at a sold-out Dragao Stadium in Porto, Portugal dominated the game from the start but struggled to break down the strong North Macedonian defence, managing only three shots on target despite having almost 70 per cent possession.
Fernandes opened the scoring 30 minutes into the first half after intercepting a pass by his best friend, North Macedonia captain Stefan Ristovski, working a great one-two with Cristiano Ronaldo before whipping his shot past the goalkeeper.
The 27-year-old attacking midfielder sealed Portugal’s win in the 65th minute, striking home a volley from a Diogo Jota cross. “I don’t care about individual accomplishments but this display will be one to remember because it helped my country to reach a World Cup,” Fernandes told reporters.
Portugal, who won the 2016 European Championship in France and the 2019 Uefa Nations League at home, qualified for a sixth straight World Cup finals and have now not missed a major international competition in the last 20 years.
Lewa on target
Poland’s Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski fired second-half goals to book a place at the finals with a 2-0 win over Sweden in an electrifying playoff tie in Chorzow. The Poles battled to contain a Sweden side bristling with youthful attacking vigour, but in the end experience told as Lewandowski and teammates capitalised on mistakes.
Defender Kamil Glik was delighted to come out on top in the winners-take-all playoff clash.
“It was new for all of us — for me, for Robert (Lewandowski), who had played many matches but he hadn’t played one like this, none of us had. It was a very tough match from this point of view,” Glik, who played with a muscle injury, told Polish TV.
Playoff spot
Peru sealed a playoff spot after a 2-0 win over Paraguay secured fifth place in the South American qualifying group. Gianluca Lapadula and Yoshimar Yotun were the scorers Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay had already secured South America’s four automatic spots.
Peru will meet either the United Arab Emirates or Australia, who play the Asian confederation playoff in Doha on June 7, for a place in Qatar. The inter-confederation playoff will take place in Doha on June 13 or 14.
“Tonight’s (Tuesday) game was a joy for the whole country but there is still one more step to take,” midfielder Christian Cueva said. In Tuesday’s other games, Brazil beat Bolivia 4-0 in La Paz thanks to goals from Lucas Paqueta, Bruno Guimaraes and a double for Richarlison.
The win took Brazil’s points total to 45, a record in the South American qualifying section. Argentina drew 1-1 at Ecuador after Julian Alvarez’s early goal was cancelled out in stoppage time by the home side’s Enner Valencia.
Colombia beat Venezuela 1-0 thanks to a James Rodriguez penalty, while Luis Suarez, with a bicycle kick, and Federico Valverde gave Uruguay a 2-0 win over Chile in Santiago.
Suarez moved ahead of Lionel Messi as the top scorer in South American qualifiers with his 29th goal.
