FIFA WC Qualifiers: Serbia hits Portugal, reaches the World Cup with Spain and Croatia
Lisbon. Spain, Serbia and Croatia have qualified for next year’s soccer World Cup in Qatar, but Sweden, Portugal and Russia will have to wait. Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal were stunned by Aleksandr Mitrovic’s header in the 90th minute as Serbia entered the World Cup directly after recording a 2-1 victory in the Lisbon match. Portugal only needed a draw to qualify, but Mitrovic’s goal dashed their hopes. Serbia topped Group A with this victory.
Portugal still has a chance to qualify, but will need to reach the top four teams in the playoffs in March. For Portugal, Renato Sánchez had put them in a strong position with a goal in the second minute, but Dusan Tadych managed to equalize for Serbia in the 33rd minute. Spectators and Portuguese players were stunned by Mitrovic’s header.
Among them was Ronaldo, who sat silently on the field after the last whistle. In another Group A match, Ireland beat Luxembourg 3-0. Spain only needed a draw in their last game against Sweden to qualify, but recorded a 1-0 victory in Group B with substitute Álvaro Morata’s goal in the 86th minute.
With this, Swedish star Jlatan Ibrahimovic’s hopes of playing in another World Cup have been pinned on the playoffs. Greece and Kosavo finished in a 1-1 draw in Group B. Both teams were already out of the race to qualify. Croatia recorded a 1-0 victory on Russian defender Fedor Kudryashov’s suicide goal in the 81st minute.
With this victory, Croatia finished at the top of Group H. Russia will now also play in the playoffs that begin on March 24 next year. Slovakia, third in the group, recorded a 6-0 victory over Malta, which included a hat-trick by Ondrej Duda. In another match, Slovenia beat Cyprus 2-1.
Germany had already secured their place in the World Cup from Group J, but continued their winning campaign by beating Armenia 4-1.
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