Hat-tricks by Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves helped Portugal energy previous Armenia to verify their place on the 2026 World Cup as Group F winners in Cristiano Ronaldo’s absence.
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes convered penalties in both half and struck from contained in the field for the Selecao, who have been with out captain Cristiano Ronaldo in Porto as a result of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was suspended after being despatched off in his facet’s 2-0 defeat in Eire on Thursday.
Eduard Spertsyan’s early equaliser briefly made the scoreline 1-1, however Armenia completed backside of the part with 5 defeats and one win.
Portugal vs Armenia: Selecao stroll to World Cup
Portugal solely required some extent to qualify however a 2-2 draw at dwelling to Hungary adopted by a forgettable night time in Dublin – together with a straight pink card for Ronaldo – had raised questions on Roberto Martinez’s facet and made the top to their marketing campaign extra difficult than they might have favored.
Armenia goalkeeper Henri Avagyan brilliantly tipped Bruno Fernandes’s shot towards a put up for the opener, the rebound falling for Renato Veiga to move in with seven minutes gone.
Visiting coach Iegishe Melikoan had stated he wished to see extra combat from his group than they confirmed of their 5-0 dwelling defeat to Portugal earlier within the group stage and the minnows drew degree via a tremendous objective 11 minutes later, Grant-Leon Ranos exhibiting his velocity and talent to advance alongside the correct earlier than whipping in a cross for Eduard Spertsyan to faucet in.
Artur Serobyan – a newcomer to the guests’ line-up – then bought Avagyan brief with a back-pass, permitting Goncalo Ramos to gather the ball, beat the goalkeeper and slot in with 28 minutes performed.
Joao Neves opened his account for the night with a gorgeous end 90 seconds later, assembly Bruno Fernandes’s lay-off on the sting of the field to rifle a low first-time shot previous Avagyan and full an intricate group transfer.
The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder then curled in an excellent, centrally positioned free-kick from distance, hitting the crossbar on its method in and ending any hopes Armenia might need held of a comeback.
Bruno Fernandes netted his treble with the following three targets throughout first-half added time and within the 51st and 72nd minutes, with Joao Neves firing in for his third with 9 minutes remaining and Francisco Conceicao including Portugal’s ninth from outdoors the field within the 92nd minute.
Portugal group vs Armenia
Goncalo Ramos, Nelson Semedo, Renato Veiga, Bruno Fernandes and Rafael Leao have been the brand new faces for Portugal.
Portugal beginning XI: Diogo Costa, Nelson Semedo, Ruben Dias, Renato Veiga, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva, Joao Neves, Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Rafael Leao, Goncalo Ramos
Portugal substitutes: Antonio Silva, Diogo Dalot, Joao Palhinha, Carlos Forbs, Joao Felix, Jose Sa, Goncalo Inacio, Trincao, Matheus Nunes, Francisco Conceicao, Ruben Neves, Rui Silva
Armenia group vs Portugal
Ahead Serobyan and midfielder Narek Aghasaryan got here in for Armenia, who’ve now misplaced their final 4 internationals however scored for the primary time on that run.
Armenia beginning XI: Henri Avagyan, Erik Piloyan, Sergey Muradyan, Styopa Mkrtchyan, Nayair Tiknizyan, Narek Aghasaryan, Karen Muradyan, Eduard Spertsyan, Kamo Hovhannisyan, Grant-Leon Ranos, Artur Serobyan
Armenia substitutes: Ognjen Cancarevic, Georgi Harutyunyan, Karen Nalbandyan, Edgar Sevikyan, Zhirayr Shaghoyan, Narek Grigoryan, Arsen Beglaryan, Gor Manvelyan, Arayik Eloyan, Edgar Grigoryan, Gevorg Tarakhchyan, Artem Bandikyan
When is the draw for the 2026 World Cup finals?
The draw for the World Cup finals will happen on December 5 2025 on the Kennedy Heart in Washington DC, with the ceremony beginning at 17:00 GMT (12:00 ET/ 09:00 PT).
The match runs from June 11 till July 19 2026.
2026 World Cup playoffs dates
The highest group from every of the 12 European Qualifier teams proceeds routinely to the finals, which will probably be expanded to 48 groups.
The 12 runners-up in every group will be a part of 4 Nations League groups within the two-legged play-off ties, which will probably be drawn from pots based mostly on groups’ information through the marketing campaign and happen on March 26 and 31 2026.
