Cristiano Ronaldo’s hopes of playing in a record-equaling fifth World Cup hang in the balance after Serbia on Sunday stunned Portugal 2-1 in Lisbon to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
Spain and Croatia secured their places in Qatar thanks to 1-0 wins over Sweden and Russia respectively.
Ronaldo already holds the record of playing in five European Championships and looked well on course for another milestone as Portugal stormed out of the blocks to open the scoring after just two minutes through Renato Sanches.
Photo: AP
Serbia bounced back to dominate the remainder of the first half and deservedly leveled when Dusan Tadic’s strike squeezed in off the post after Dusan Vlahovic had hit the woodwork.
Ronaldo was kept quiet as another chance to score his 800th career goal came and went.
Instead it was Aleksandar Mitrovic who grabbed the vital goal as stoppage time approached.
Just more than a year ago, Mitrovic was the villain for his country as he was the only player to fail to score in a penalty shoot-out against Scotland that saw Serbia miss out on Euro 2020.
The Fulham striker made amends in dramatic fashion when he steered in Tadic’s header at the back post.
“It was an amazing game,” Mitrovic said. “We were the better team today in every aspect of the game.”
Portugal must now navigate two tricky one-off playoff matches in March to maintain their record of qualifying for every major tournament since the 1998 World Cup.
Spain made sure they avoided the playoffs as Alvaro Morata’s goal four minutes from time ended Sweden’s resistance in Seville.
The Swedes’ shock 2-0 defeat to Kazakhstan on Thursday handed Spain pole position in Group B, meaning La Roja just needed a point to qualify.
Croatia also needed a late winner as an own goal from Fedor Kudryashov snatched qualification from Russia in a battle in boggy conditions in Split.
Germany had long since booked their place in Qatar, but rounded off their qualifying campaign with a 4-1 thrashing of Armenia, as Ilkay Gundogan scored twice.
North Macedonia secured a playoff place behind the four-time world champions with a 3-1 win over Iceland.
In Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) and Ghana both won their respective qualifying groups, advancing to the March playoffs that would determine the continents representatives at Qatar.
DR Congo beat Benin 2-0 in Kinshasa to finish one point ahead of their visitors in Group J, while Ghana’s 1-0 home win over South Africa at Cape Coast also meant they pipped their guests in Group G.
The two countries join Egypt, Mali, Morocco and Senegal in the final stage of the African preliminaries.
The 10 group winners play five two-legged ties to decide the African representation for Qatar and the remaining four group winners would be decided today.
Also on Sunday, Ismaila Sarr scored a double for Senegal as they beat the Republic of the Congo 2-0 in Dakar to finish their group campaign unbeaten. They also amassed 16 points in Group H, but had already booked their place last month.
Mali, who had already ensured top place in Group E last week, also finished unbeaten and with 16 points, as they beat Uganda 1-0, courtesy of a first half strike from Kalifa Coulibaly.
Additional reporting by Reuters
Jobe Bellingham on Tuesday admitted to having “anxieties” on following in brother Jude’s footsteps after joining Borussia Dortmund in the summer. Jobe Bellingham, 19, is two years younger than Jude Bellingham, who joined Real Madrid in 2023 after three years at Dortmund. A centerpiece of the England national team, Jude Bellingham has emerged as one of the best players in the world in recent seasons. The younger Jobe Bellingham joined Dortmund in June from Sunderland after their promotion to the English Premier League. He admitted he understood what the perception would be ahead of the move to Germany. “It’s something you do think about.
Before Tuesday’s 7-2 win at the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy suggested “most people couldn’t tell you five players on our team.” A look at the standings would indicate more Brewers players soon will be recognized by more fans. After all, it is difficult to overlook a team that not only continues to extend their lead in the National League Central, but also boasts the best record in the majors. “What we’re doing in here right now is special,” right-handed pitcher Freddy Peralta said after allowing only four hits and one run in five innings, while setting a career high with
A baseball team from New Taipei City won the US Pony Palomino Division World Series yesterday in Laredo, Texas, defeating the US West representative team from Azusa, California, 2-1. Ku-Pao Home Economics and Commercial High School earned the right to represent Taiwan in the Pony Palomino (17 to 18 age group) World Series after winning this year's Wang Chen-chih Cup, a competition named after Taiwanese-Japanese baseball legend Wang Chen-chih (王貞治), also known as Sadaharu Oh. In the championship game against Azusa, Ku-Pao's starting pitcher Luo Yu-yan (羅于晏) was erratic early, giving up two hits in the bottom of the first inning, followed
Taiwanese pitcher Teng Kai-wei took the mound in New York on Saturday as the starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants in his MLB season debut against the New York Mets, pitching 3.1 innings and allowing five runs. The Taiwanese right-hander struggled early, giving up three runs in the bottom of the first inning, including a three-run homer to Mets slugger Pete Alonso — his 250th career home run. However, Teng was not fazed and soon found his footing, holding the Mets scoreless in the bottom of the second and third innings. Meanwhile, Mets starter Kodai Senga of Japan made a few errors
RSS