Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for the first time in his international career as Ireland stunned Portugal on Thursday night (November 13) with a hard-earned 2-0 home victory in Dublin.
The defeat means that Portugal will have to win their final World Cup qualification match on Sunday against Armenia in order to qualify directly without having to rely on outside results.
For Ireland, however, the victory kept their hopes alive for (realistically) a playoff spot and a potential return to the World Cup – for which they haven’t qualified since 2002.
Troy Parrott, an Irish striker who is enjoying a terrific season with AZ Alkmaar (13 goals in 14 games), continued his excellent form with a first-half double for the home side, stunning Roberto Martínez’s men who were never able to recover.
The visitors, already facing an uphill battle, had to deal with further adversity when Ronaldo was shown a red card – after VAR intervention – for swinging his elbow into Irish defender Dara O’Shea around the hour mark. It was his first red card for Portugal in 226 appearances.
Portugal tried until the end of the match to score a goal that would bring them at least closer to a draw, but the final score was already set.
Despite the loss, Portugal is still in first place (the only one that guarantees direct qualification for the 2026 World Cup) with 10 points, two ahead of Hungary and three ahead of Ireland. Their next match is scheduled for Sunday at 2pm at Estádio do Dragão in Porto against Armenia, who are in last place with just three points in five matches. Meanwhile, Ireland will travel to Hungary. They could still qualify as top of the group, though they’d have to beat Hungary and hope for a Portuguese loss against Armenia.
