Portugal and Norway Seal 2026 World Cup Spots as Ireland Triumphs in Last-Minute Thriller:

Portugal officially booked their spot at the 2026 World Cup with a dominant 9–1 victory over Armenia on Sunday, while Erling Haaland’s brace helped Norway secure their own qualification with an emphatic 4–1 win away in Italy. It was a night of high drama and major milestones across Europe as teams wrapped up their qualifying campaigns. Portugal entered the match under pressure after being held by Hungary and suffering a shock defeat to the Republic of Ireland in their previous outing. But in Porto, Roberto Martínez’s side responded in spectacular fashion, sealing top spot in Group F at the third attempt. With Cristiano Ronaldo serving a suspension, Portugal’s midfield stepped up in extraordinary fashion as Bruno Fernandes and João Neves both netted hat-tricks. Renato Veiga, Gonçalo Ramos and Francisco Conceição added further goals as the hosts overwhelmed bottom-placed Armenia. Speaking after the match, Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Neves expressed delight at both the result and his personal achievement. “The most important thing was qualifying for the World Cup,” he told RTP. “The team always comes first. I’m very happy to have scored my first goal for the national team — and my second and third as well.” With qualification secured, Portugal are set to compete in their seventh consecutive World Cup — though the tournament remains a missing piece in their international trophy cabinet. Ronaldo celebrated the achievement on social media, writing, “We’re at the World Cup! Let’s go, Portugal!” However, questions remain over whether the superstar forward will miss the beginning of the tournament should FIFA extend his current suspension. Elsewhere in the same group, the Republic of Ireland clinched the playoff position in dramatic fashion. Troy Parrott completed a remarkable hat-trick with a 96th-minute winner to seal a 3–2 victory over Hungary. Daniel Lukacs gave Hungary an early lead before Parrott equalised from the penalty spot. Barnabás Varga restored Hungary’s advantage in the 37th minute, and for much of the match, it appeared they would hold onto second place. But Parrott, who had already been Ireland’s hero in their surprise win over Portugal earlier in the week, struck again late on before prodding in the decisive third goal deep into stoppage time. The 23-year-old’s late heroics sent Ireland into March’s playoffs amid jubilant celebrations. In Group I, Italy needed an unlikely miracle in Milan to overtake Norway, who held a massive goal-difference edge. An early strike from Pio Esposito at the San Siro briefly lifted Italian hopes, but Ståle Solbakken’s side stayed composed and eventually took control. Antonio Nusa equalised just after the hour mark before Haaland produced two goals in the span of a single minute to flip the match completely. Jørgen Strand Larsen added a late fourth as Norway completed an impeccable qualifying campaign with eight wins from eight matches. The result sends them to their first World Cup in 28 years. “I’m happy, but more relieved,” Haaland admitted to TV 2 after scoring 16 goals across the qualifiers. “There’s a lot of pressure, but the way we did it is incredible.” Captain Martin Ødegaard echoed the sentiment, calling the achievement “absolutely insane.” Italy, meanwhile, will head into the playoffs after finishing six points ahead of Israel, who defeated Moldova 4–1 in their final qualifier. In other results, France — already qualified earlier in the week — closed out their campaign with a 3–1 win in Azerbaijan, while Ukraine secured second place in Group D with a 2–0 victory over Iceland thanks to two late goals from Oleksandr Zubkov and Oleksii Hutsuliak. England also finished in style. Thomas Tuchel’s side completed a flawless campaign with a 2–0 win over Albania, ending qualifying with a perfect record: six wins, 22 goals scored, and none conceded — a new European benchmark for any team with at least six matches. Harry Kane, who scored both goals, praised the squad’s depth, saying, “I think it's as good a squad as we've ever had. We’ll go into the tournament as one of the favourites.” With Albania already safely in second place, Serbia’s 2–1 win over Latvia capped off Group K in a fixture that had no bearing on qualification.

SPORT