Bruno Fernandes took Portugal to the 2022 World Cup by scoring twice in a 2-0 win over Italian conquerors North Macedonia on Tuesday. Italy’s shock defeat left North Macedonia dreaming of their first World Cup final, but Portugal and Fernandes proved a step too far in Porto. Fernandes eased the Portuguese’s nervousness at the Estadio do Dragao by finishing off Cristiano Ronaldo’s pass in the first half and then making the win more agreeable in the second, thanks to a perfect cross from the road Diogo Jota’s excellent pass.
Victory means Portugal extend their qualifying round in six of the six World Cups since the turn of this century while Ronaldo is in the process for the fifth time, aged 37.
The striker’s previous best achievement was reaching the semi-finals in 2006, when Portugal were defeated by Germany.
North Macedonia, ranked 67th in the world rankings, beat Germany to second in Group J before knocking out European champions Italy in Friday’s play-off semi-finals, with Aleksandar Trajkovski scoring in 92 minutes to deliver a stunning result in Palermo.
Meanwhile, Portugal have yet to strike a balance between their traditionally conservative approach and a host of attacking talent that could make any country in the world the envy of.
They were denied top spot in Group A by Serbia while Fernando Santos’ side were relieved to see Turkey miss an 85th-minute penalty, 2-1, in the semi-final win. on Thursday.
North Macedonia also got off to a confident start, keeping their possession long enough to make the hysterical home crowd whistle.
Portugal’s first chance came in the 14th minute when Jota poked a slot for Ronaldo and the striker fired a left-footed shot that narrowly missed the post.
Jota headed home from Fernandes’ corner and in the 32nd minute, Fernandes finished, taking advantage of the error of North Macedonia captain Stefan Ristovski.
Fernandes blocked Ristovski’s wild cross, controlling the ball with a clear pass to Manchester United teammate Ronaldo. Ronaldo reached the edge of the box but instead of shooting on the right, past Visar Misliu and turned back to Fernandes, who had driven in.
Jota could have doubled the advantage but scored an own goal before half-time, something North Macedonia was content to achieve with no further punishment after Portugal’s most assertive spell for now.
The visitors regrouped and found their feet early in the second half but were pulled back once again by a deft break from Portugal, and Fernandes.
Pepe saved Enis Bardhi and Portugal on the field, the ball was passed to the left to Jota, who made a wonderful cross inside the box. Fernandes came in and caught the shot from a half-standard pass.
North Macedonia wanted a late penalty as Danilo Pereira poked a slot for Bojan Miovski in the box before Ronaldo was blocked from Fernandes’ cross to the near post on another counter-attack.
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With the defeat, Ronaldo can look to Qatar.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from the syndication feed.)
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