Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal lock in a spot at 2026 FIFA World Cup. Photo: VALERY HACHE / AFP
A plethora of World Cup qualifiers in Europe has ended with Portugal and Norway securing spots at next year's tournament in North America.
Portugal, minus Cristiano Ronaldo, hammered Armenia 9-1 in their final UEFA qualifying Group F match, that included hat-tricks from both Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves.
The reigning Nations League champions were forced to wait to book an automatic spot after losing 2-0 to Ireland on Thursday in a game where Ronaldo was sent off.
But Roberto Martinez's side needed no help from their all-time top scorer in a one-sided match that assured them top spot with 13 points, giving Ronaldo the opportunity to play at a record sixth World Cup.
Norway also qualified, by topping Group I, after a 4-1 win away to Italy, condemning the hosts, who have missed out on the last two editions of the tournament, to the European playoffs.
Norway trailed 1-0 for the majority of the game after a goal to Francesco Pio Esposito in the 11th minute, but powered home, with all four goals coming in the last half an hour, with Manchester City star Erling Harlaand scoring two of them.
The win sent the Norweigan team, who finished qualification with eight wins from eight games. into raptures, as they are off to the tournament for the first time since 1998.
In other matches, a 2-0 win over Albania, saw England complete Group K with a perfect eight-win record as well, in which they scored 22 goals, and conceded none.
England's record goalscorer Harry Kane, who netted both against Albania, described the current squad as probably the best it has ever been.
"You look at the starting 11, the players coming off the bench, we are going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites," Kane said. "We have to accept that, and it's been like that for the last few tournaments.
"We've had a great year together with the new coach (Thomas Tuchel) and now we are looking forward to a big 2026."
- Reuters
