Agency, November 14: Portugal suffered a disappointing defeat after veteran forward Cristiano Ronaldo was shown a red card. In the UEFA qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup, Portugal were beaten 2–0 by Ireland.
Playing at home in the Aviva Stadium, Ireland secured the victory through two goals from Troy Parrott. Parrott opened the scoring in the 17th minute, giving the hosts an early lead. He doubled Ireland’s advantage just before halftime, scoring his second goal in the 45th minute.
Portugal were reduced to 10 men in the 59th minute after Ronaldo received a red card. Despite both teams pushing forward in the second half, no additional goals were scored, and Ireland sealed a 2–0 win.
With this victory, Ireland kept their hopes of World Cup qualification alive, while Portugal will now have to wait for their next match to secure their place. Portugal currently lead Group F with 10 points from 5 matches, while Ireland remain third with 7 points from the same number of games.
In another match played last night, France qualified for the World Cup after a dominant 4–0 win over Ukraine. Playing at home, France cruised to victory with two goals from Kylian Mbappé and one each from Michael Olise and Hugo Ekitike.
With the win, France sit atop their group with 13 points from 5 matches, while Ukraine are third with 7 points.
