Portuguese players celebrating their World Cup qualification victory
Portugal booked their place at the 2026 World Cup in emphatic fashion on Sunday, overwhelming Armenia 9–1 in Porto despite the absence of suspended superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves stole the show, each delivering a hat-trick as Roberto Martinez’s side stormed to the top of Group F and secured qualification. Renato Veiga opened the scoring, with Goncalo Ramos and Francisco Conceição also finding the net.
The dominant win ended Portugal’s brief stumble in the qualifiers—after being held to a draw in Hungary in October and suffering a shock defeat in Ireland on Thursday, a match in which Ronaldo was sent off. With the victory, Portugal celebrated their seventh consecutive World Cup qualification. The European champions of 2016 are still chasing their first global title.
“We always want to win in the same way — to be convincing and control the game. It’s not always possible, but today we were effective and achieved a good victory,” Fernandes said afterward.
Portugal wasted no time asserting themselves. In the seventh minute, Fernandes whipped in a fierce free-kick from the left; Armenia goalkeeper Henri Avagyan pushed it onto the post, but Veiga reacted quickest to nod in the rebound.
Armenia hit back almost immediately, capitalizing on their first attack as Grant-Leon Ranos squared for captain Eduard Spertsyan to level the score. But the visitors’ resistance ended there. Ramos capitalized on a defensive error to restore Portugal’s lead, rounding Avagyan before squeezing in the finish.
A smooth team move led to Portugal’s third, with Neves blasting home after being set up by Fernandes. The PSG midfielder then doubled his tally with a stunning free-kick, arrowing the ball into the top right corner. Fernandes made it 5–1 from the spot in first-half stoppage time after Ruben Dias was brought down.
The Manchester United midfielder continued to run the show after the break. He tucked in his second following a pass from Ramos, then completed his hat-trick with another penalty after Carlos Forbs was fouled in the area.
Neves matched him soon after, smashing in Portugal’s eighth when Veiga headed a Fernandes cross into his path. Conceição rounded off the rout in stoppage time, sealing one of Portugal’s largest winning margins in competitive play.
“Now we can truly dream about the World Cup,” Martinez said, praising his squad’s reaction to the earlier loss in Ireland. “I was very pleased with the players’ response.”
Ronaldo, watching from the sidelines, celebrated qualification online: “We’re at the World Cup! Let’s go, Portugal!” he posted on X.
The captain could still face additional suspension if FIFA extends his ban beyond the mandatory one-match punishment he served against Armenia.
In the group’s other match, Ireland stunned Hungary 3–2 thanks to a dramatic late winner. Troy Parrott, who scored twice against Portugal earlier in the week, netted a hat-trick to send Ireland into the play-offs.
