Who: <\/strong>Ireland vs Portugal Click here to follow our live coverage.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Unbeaten Portugal (3-1-0) will seal direct qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2026 if they beat Ireland in their penultimate Group F fixture at the Aviva Stadium.<\/p>\n Armed with a five-point lead, Roberto Martinez\u2019s team are in the box seat to seal a seventh consecutive appearance at football\u2019s global showpiece.<\/p>\n Ireland (1-1-2), for their part, still have a mathematical chance to keep their World Cup aspirations alive by causing a huge upset on Thursday night against an opponent that is fifth in the FIFA world rankings.<\/p>\n They are currently third in the group \u2013 but only a point behind second-placed Hungary with two matches still to play. Ireland last qualified for the World Cup in 2006.<\/p>\n Here is all to know about their Group F return clash:<\/p>\n Scenario 1:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Group leaders Portugal require a win against Ireland to ensure direct World Cup qualification into next year\u2019s tournament, which is being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n In this scenario, Portugal would have 13 points \u2013 an insurmountable lead over the other three teams in the group with just one match remaining.<\/p>\n Scenario 2:<\/strong><\/p>\n If Portugal were to draw its final two fixtures against Ireland and Armenia, they would also finish top of the Group F standings with 12 points from six matches.<\/p>\n Scenario 3:<\/strong><\/p>\n If Portugal lose its final two matches against Ireland and Armenia, and Hungary \u2013 which currently has five points \u2013 wins its final two fixtures against Armenia and Ireland, then Hungary would move top of Group F with 11 points vs Portugal\u2019s 10 points.<\/p>\n If Ireland win their final two games, and Portugal lose their final two games, then the teams would be level on 10 points at the top of the standings with the group winner being decided by goal difference.<\/p>\n All 12 group winners in Europe qualify directly for the World Cup while the runners-up go on to the playoffs for the remaining finals places taking place in March.<\/p>\n Portugal were on the brink of punching their ticket to the World Cup as they led Hungary 2-1 in stoppage time in Lisbon, knowing a win would confirm first place in Group F.<\/p>\n However, Hungary snatched a late draw when Liverpool\u2019s Dominik Szoboszlai finished from close range in injury time.<\/p>\n The teams last played on October 11 in Lisbon.<\/p>\n Portugal\u2019s Ruben Neves scored a stoppage-time goal to snatch a dramatic 1-0 home win in Group F after his teammate Ronaldo had a penalty saved earlier in the match as Ireland threatened to hold the unbeaten hosts to a draw.<\/p>\n Yes. With Portugal on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup, Ronaldo confirmed the tournament in North America will be his swansong on football\u2019s biggest stage.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely, yes, because I will be 41 years old [at the World Cup],\u201d said Ronaldo, who is also the top scorer in history with 143 international goals.<\/p>\n \u201cI gave everything for football. I\u2019ve been in the game for the last 25 years. I did everything. I have many records in the different scenarios in the clubs and also in the national teams.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really proud. So let\u2019s enjoy the moment, live the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n This is only the 18th meeting between the European sides with Portugal winning 10 and Ireland winning four.<\/p>\n Ireland\u2019s last win came in a friendly in 2005, courtesy of Andy O\u2019Brien\u2019s solitary strike in Dublin. There have been four subsequent matches, of which Portugal have won three.<\/p>\n Ireland\u2019s last competitive win against Portugal came in a European Championships qualifier in 1995.<\/p>\n The fixture dates back to 1946 and began with a 3-1 home win for Portugal in a friendly.<\/p>\n W-W-W-W-D (most recent result last)<\/p>\n D-D-L-L-W (most recent result last)<\/p>\n Chelsea winger Pedro Neto has withdrawn from Martinez\u2019s squad after he suffered a groin injury in his side\u2019s 3-0 Premier League victory over Wolves on Saturday. Rafael Leao is the most likely replacement for Neto.<\/p>\n Sporting Lisbon midfielder Pedro Goncalves is also out for a month after an undisclosed injury playing against Santa Clara on the weekend.<\/p>\n \u201c[I\u2019m] out of these next two games and not being able to be present in the World Cup qualifiers. Something I always dreamed of was representing the National Team, and not being able to go hurts. Now it\u2019s time to recover properly, even though I\u2019m not doing what I love the most! Thank you to the team for the effort until the end! We still have a lot to achieve,\u201d Goncalves wrote on social media.<\/p>\n Ronaldo, who has yet to score away to Ireland in four career meetings, will lead the line for Portugal.<\/p>\n In a big blow to Ireland\u2019s chances, star striker Evan Ferguson is out of the Portugal fixture with an ankle issue and is in doubt for their final World Cup match against Hungary, which may decide who finishes second in Group F.<\/p>\n Manager Heimir Hallgrimsson will also be without three other injured regulars in the squad: Callum O\u2019Dowda (minor knock), Mark Sykes (shin) and Sammie Szmodics (knee).<\/p>\n Ryan Manning and Jayson Molumby are serving one match suspensions.<\/p>\n Ireland:<\/strong>\u00a0Kelleher (goalkeeper); O\u2019Brien, O\u2019Shea, Collins; Coleman, Cullen, Taylor, Johnston; Ebosele, Azaz; Parrott<\/p>\n Portugal:<\/strong>\u00a0Costa (goalkeeper); Cancelo, Dias, Inacio, Mendes; Fernandes, Vitinha, Neves, Bernardo, Ronaldo, Leao<\/p>\n Hallgrimsson:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIf Armenia wins or there is a draw, a win in Hungary is enough for us, so that is two of four scenarios for us,\u201d the Ireland manager said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Hungary win, we need at least a draw, but if they win by two or three goals, we will need a draw [against Portugal] and win by maybe three goals away in Hungary.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will know what we need in this game against Portugal before we kick off, which is a benefit to us, but it doesn\u2019t change how we start and play the game, but may need to take calculated risks as the game progresses.\u201d<\/p>\n Martinez:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cNovember is always a difficult stage. Even so, our focus is on qualifying for the World Cup. \u2026 We have to improve, especially in the final 20 minutes of games,\u201d Portugal\u2019s manager said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Who: Ireland vs PortugalWhat: UEFA World Cup qualifier, Group FWhere: Aviva Stadium in Dublin, IrelandWhen: Thursday at 7:45pm (19:45 GMT) Click here to follow our live coverage. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Unbeaten Portugal (3-1-0) will seal direct qualification to the FIFA World Cup 2026 if they beat Ireland in their penultimate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What:<\/strong> UEFA World Cup qualifier, Group F
Where:<\/strong> Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland
When:<\/strong> Thursday at 7:45pm (19:45 GMT)<\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Current Group F standings (two fixtures remaining):<\/h2>\n
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How can Portugal and Ireland still qualify for World Cup in Group F?<\/h2>\n
![\"Dominik](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AP25287694180904-1762947645.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
What happened in Portugal\u2019s last match against Hungary?<\/h2>\n
What happened the last time Portugal played Ireland?<\/h2>\n
Is the 2026 World Cup Ronaldo\u2019s last major international tournament?<\/h2>\n
![\"Cristiano](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025-10-14T182629Z_118119095_UP1ELAE1F83ZN_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-WORLDCUP-POR-HUN-REPORT-1762860533.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C513&quality=80\")
Head-to-head<\/h2>\n
Portugal\u2019s form<\/h2>\n
Ireland\u2019s form<\/h2>\n
Portugal team news<\/h2>\n
Ireland team news<\/h2>\n
![\"Evan](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2240653055-1762948388.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C522&quality=80\")
Predicted starting lineups:<\/h2>\n
What the coaches had to say:<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"