Portugal booked their ticket to the 2026 World Cup in outrageous style on Sunday, destroying Armenia 9–1 in Porto — and they did it without their suspended captain Cristiano Ronaldo.
After Thursday’s shock
2–0 defeat to Ireland, where Ronaldo was sent off, Roberto Martinez’s side needed a response. They delivered a demolition.
Hat-tricks from Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves headlined a ruthless performance that secured top spot in Group F and confirmed Portugal’s seventh straight World Cup appearance.
Renato Veiga opened the scoring early before Armenia stunned the hosts with a rare equaliser — their first goal in four games — through Eduard Spertsyan. That was the only scare Portugal allowed.
From there, it turned into a goal parade:
Gonçalo Ramos pounced on a back-pass to restore the lead.
- Neves smashed one from the edge of the box, then curled in a sensational free-kick for his second.
- Fernandes buried a penalty in stoppage time to make it 5–1 at halftime.
- After the break, Fernandes added two more — the first from open play, the second from the spot — completing his hat-trick.
- Neves followed with his third, and Francisco Conceição rounded off the rout in injury time.
“We always want to win convincingly,” Fernandes said. “Tonight we were effective and got a great victory.”
Neves was equally delighted: “The most important thing was qualification. I’m happy to score my first, second and third goals for Portugal.”
Armenia manager Yegishe Melikyan admitted his side were outmatched: “We’re not ready to play teams as powerful as Portugal. The mistakes broke us mentally.”
Ireland finished second in the group after a dramatic 3–2 win over Hungary, securing a playoff spot thanks to another Troy Parrott hat-trick.
Ronaldo, watching from afar, celebrated on social media: “We’re at the World Cup! Let’s go, Portugal!”
ESTAMOS NO MUNDIAL! VAMOS COM TUDO, PORTUGAL! 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/3bfPqkrecH
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) November 16, 2025
FIFA will decide whether his red card warrants further suspension, which could impact the start of his potential record sixth World Cup next summer.
(with agency inputs)
