Portugal have to settle for World Cup play-offs after a draw against Ireland and defeat against Serbia in the final two matches

Portugal’s 0-0 draw with Ireland and their 2-1 defeat to Serbia following a last-minute winner from Aleksandar Mitrović saw Dragan Stojković men secure World Cup qualification as Group A winners.

Portugal initially slipped up last week when they could only manage a draw away to Ireland. The young Irish team played well and mainly restricted Fernando Santos’ side to shots from outside the box.

A Seleção’s frustration was evident with some wild tackles flying in which eventually saw Pepe sent off in the 80th minute for lashing out on Callum Robinson to earn his second yellow of the game.

At the final whistle, a young Irish fan ran onto the pitch and outran security to get to her hero Ronaldo who gave her a tight hug and his jersey.

Despite the disappointing away draw, Portugal were still odds-on favourites to get the point they needed at home to second-placed Serbia.

Their chances of qualification improved even further when Renato Sanches gave Portugal an early lead after just two minutes.

Serbia, who were keen to avoid the difficulties of qualifying through the play-offs again after they failed to qualify for EURO 2020 when they lost a penalty shootout to Scotland in Belgrade, hit back in the first half through an equaliser from Dusan Tadic on the half-hour mark.

This set up an exciting finish to the match with Mitrovic securing an unlikely away win with a header in the 90th minute.

Portugal now await the play-off draw before they seek to navigate their way to qualification for the World Cup in Qatar.

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