Portugal vs North Macedonia LIVE: World Cup play-off final result, score and reaction
Relive all the action from Porto
Bruno Fernandes scored twice as Portugal sealed their place in their sixth consecutive World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over North Macedonia in Porto.
Fernandes ended the visitors’ resistance with a 32nd-minute opener after being played in by a neat bit of skill by Cristiano Ronaldo.
From that moment on there was little danger of the North Macedonians repeating the heroics that saw them dump Italy out of the tournament with a dramatic late winner in Palermo last week.
Fernandes sealed his side’s passage to Qatar in the 65th minute when he finished off a lightning counter-attack by stroking the ball past keeper Stole Dimitrievski. Relive all the action live below:
Portugal 1-0 North Macedonia, 40 minutes
Another sighting of goal for Diogo Jota but he can’t find the target! Cristiano Ronaldo hooks one inwards from the byline and there should be little danger, but North Macedonia form a committee in an attempt to decide which of three players are to perform clearing duties, allowing Jota to nip in.
His touch makes the angle tight and he ruffles the side netting.
Poland 0-0 Sweden, 37 minutes
Ooh, that’s not a particularly clever challenge from Jacek Goralski. The Poland midfielder is after a bouncing ball but is second to it, and makes a rather high contact with the leg of the Swedish player. A booking.
Poland 0-0 Sweden, 36 minutes
It’s all interchanging parts and clever movement from Sweden, with the front four beginning to cause plenty of issues for Poland. Robin Quaison doesn’t have the requisite tensile strength in his neck to contort his head back and direct a firm cross towards goal.
Poland 0-0 Sweden, 34 minutes
It’s still even enough in Poland, but the home side look slightly loose in possession, perhaps just adjusting to the tactics of their new manager. Dejan Kulusevski has been prominent for Sweden.
Portugal 1-0 North Macedonia, 34 minutes
That has rather cheered up a restless crowd at the Estadio do Dragao, who are now chanting away with restored confidence.
GOAL! PORTUGAL 1-0 North Macedonia (Bruno Fernandes, 32 minutes)
A gift from North Macedonia and the Manchester United pair combine to take advantage! It’s a foolish ball from captain Stefa Ristovski, lifting ambitiously across the pitch after turning back from the halfway line.
Bruno Fernandes gets his foot in and finds club-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, who finds a gap in a pair of legs to return the ball to Fernandes. A precise finish puts Portugal one-ahead. Smartly taken, but North Macedonia could ill-afford a self-inflicted blow of that sort.
Poland 0-0 Sweden, 28 minutes
Poland have woken up. Marcus Danielson does well to prevent Robert Lewandowski testing Robin Olsen with a shot after the Bayern Munich striker fades from his marker on to a diagonal, but Swedish goalkeeper Olsen is soon called upon twice in short order, first rather nervously tiptoeing out to punch a corner out and then holding his position firmly to get behind Jan Bednarek’s swing at a dropping ball.
Poland 0-0 Sweden, 25 minutes
Should Matty Cash have done better? Sebastian Szymanski pivots to create half-a-yard of space away from Dejan Kulusevski and crosses to the opposite side of the box, but the Aston Villa full-back rather snatches at the chance.
Portugal 0-0 North Macedonia, 26 minutes
Another hoist into the box is headed in the vague direction of goal by Pepe, but the 39-year-old’s ageing legs were too slow in retreating, and he’s rightly flagged for offside.
Portugal 0-0 North Macedonia, 24 minutes
Anthony Taylor has a chat with a couple of happy grapplers before Bruno Fernandes is permitted to deliver...
So nearly for Diogo Jota! The Liverpool forward wrestles Stefan Ristovski from him as he gets his head to Fernandes’ outswinger, directing a powerful header into the ground. It hops up...just over the bar! Mighty close.
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