No Cristiano, no problem: Portugal’s historic rout and a looming ban
Portugal secured their World Cup spot after thrashing Armenia 9-0 without their historic talisman.
Portugal got the job done against Armenia, and Roberto Martínez’s side will be at the World Cup this summer. Whether they’ll do so with Cristiano Ronaldo remains to be seen. All signs suggest they will, with the Portuguese star expected to play in his sixth World Cup, although the threat of suspension still hangs over him. His elbow on O’Shea could prove costly, potentially leaving Portugal without Cristiano for much of the group stage.
Portugal tore through the match as João Neves and Bruno Fernandes each scored hat tricks. The team came out flying, determined to clinch qualification early. At the seven-minute mark, Renato Veiga opened the scoring with a goal initially questioned for offside until VAR confirmed it. It all seemed simple enough until Armenia struck back for 1–1. A lightning move down the right ended with Spertsyan finishing at the penalty spot – an unexpected equalizer that fired Martínez’s team up again.
In a flash, Portugal pulled away. Within just two minutes, Gonçalo Ramos and then João Neves put the game out of reach. The PSG striker is in top form and added his second before halftime. The gulf between the teams was enormous, made even clearer by Bruno Fernandes’ hat trick. He scored first from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time, again right after the break, and then completed his spectacular trio with another penalty. Portugal was enjoying itself, and Armenia had already resigned itself to defeat.
World Cup number six for Cristiano
Third time was the charm for Portugal. After twice delaying their chance to qualify, the Seleção finally finished top of the group and secured a spot in their seventh straight World Cup. They haven’t missed the tournament at any point this century, a stark contrast to their long run of disappointments in the decades before.
The reigning Nations League champions also took the opportunity to give minutes to less-frequent starters. Conceição played more than half an hour, and Carlos Forbs, the Club Brugge forward who gained attention after scoring twice against Barcelona in the Champions League, made his debut. João Félix, a substitute this time, replaced Vitinha. The changes gave Portugal even more energy, enough for Bruno to complete his hat trick and for João Neves – who had never scored in his previous 19 international appearances – to add his third. Conceição tallied Portugal’s ninth.
Portugal now heads into December with more tension than ever. On the 5th comes the draw that will reveal its three opponents – they’ll be a top seed – and later in the month, in theory, the team will learn whether it will lose its biggest star for any World Cup matches. Portugal isn’t missing Cristiano right now, but they may soon wish they had him.
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- Diogo Costa
- Rúben Dias (72')
- Cancelo (72')
- Renato Veiga
- Nelson Semedo
- Vitor Ferreira (66')
- Bruno Fernandes x3
- Rafael Leao (55')
- Bernardo Silva (55')
- João Neves x3
- 9 Goncalo Ramos
- Substitutes
- Antonio Tavares Da Sila
- Diogo Dalot
- José Sá
- Rui Silva
- João Félix (66')
- Matheus (72')
- Trincão
- Carlos Forbs (55')
- Gonçalo Inácio
- João Palhinha
- Francisco Conceição (55')
- Ruben Neves (72')
- Henri Avagyan
- Nayair Tiknizyan
- Styopa Mkrtchyan
- Erik Piloyan (54')
- Sergey Muradyan
- Karen Muradyan (81')
- Kamo Hovhannisyan
- Narek Aghasaryan (45')
- Grant Leon Mamedova (64')
- Eduard Spertsyan
- Artur Serobyan (45')
- Substitutes
- Edgar Grigoryan
- Karen Nalbandyan
- Gor Manvelyan
- Narek Grigoryan
- Zhirayr Shaghoyan (45')
- Gevorg Tarakhchyan
- Artem Bandikyan (81')
- Sevikyan (45')
- Arsen Beglaryan
- Ognjen Cancarevic
- Georgi Harutyunyan (54')
- Arayik Eloyan (64')
Substitutions
Edgar Sevikyan (45', Narek Aghasaryan), Zhirayr Shaghoyan (45', Artur Serobyan), Georgi Harutyunyan (54', Erik Piloyan), Carlos Forbs (55', Bernardo Silva), Francisco Conceição (55', Rafael Leão), Arayik Eloyan (64', Grant-Leon Ranos), João Félix (66', Vitinha), Rúben Neves (72', Rúben Dias), Matheus Nunes (72', João Cancelo), Artem Bandikyan (81', Karen Muradyan)
Goals
1-0, 6': Renato Veiga, 1-1, 17': Eduard Spertsyan, 2-1, 27': Goncalo Ramos, 3-1, 29': João Neves, 4-1, 40': João Neves, 5-1, 47': Bruno Fernandes, 6-1, 50': Bruno Fernandes, 7-1, 71': Bruno Fernandes, 8-1, 80': João Neves, 9-1, 91': Francisco Conceição
Cards
Referee: Irfan Peljto
VAR Referee: Gianluca Aureliano, Daniele Paterna
Sergey Muradyan (69',Yellow)
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