World Cup Qualifying European Zone: Portugal and Spain both won, Ronaldo s penalty kick was saved

The seventh round of the first group stage of the 2026 US-Canada-Mexico World Cup European Qualifiers will continue on the 11th. The Portuguese team defeated the Irish team 1:0 at home; the Spanish team defeated the Georgian team 2:0 at home.

The Portuguese team, currently ranked fifth in the world, has outstanding strength in this stage of the group stage. In two away games in September, they defeated Armenia 5:0 and Hungary 3:2 respectively.

In the 17th minute, the Portuguese team had the closest chance to score. Cristiano Ronaldo (C Ronaldo) took a long shot from outside the penalty area, and the ball hit the post and bounced out; facing the goalkeeper who had fallen to the ground, Bernardo Silva missed the supplementary shot and failed to seize the opportunity. In the 75th minute, Trincao shot hard and the ball hit the Irish defender's arm. The referee awarded a penalty kick, but Ronaldo's penalty kick was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper with his foot. The deadlock was finally broken in stoppage time - in the 91st minute, Ruben Neves scored with a header after receiving a cross from his teammate, helping Portugal beat the Irish team 1:0.

The Spanish team also missed a penalty kick opportunity in the game. In the 25th minute, Jeremiah Pino took the lead in scoring for the team. However, a few minutes later, Ferran Torres took a penalty kick created by himself and was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, missing the opportunity to expand the score. In the 64th minute, Oyarzabal scored directly from a free kick to help the Spanish team seal the victory.

After both the Portuguese team and the Spanish team won, they both ranked first in their respective groups with three victories.

In other important games, Haaland scored a "hat trick" to help Norway beat Israel 5:0 at home; Italy defeated Estonia 3:1 away from home.