16 November 2025
Portugal secured their place at the 2026 World Cup after a resounding 9-1 victory over Armenia on Sunday in the final match of Group F in the European qualifiers. Portugal opened the scoring through defender Renato Veiga in the 7th minute, but Armenia equalized in the 18th minute through Eduard Sebastian. Gonçalo Ramos quickly restored Portugal's lead in the 28th minute.
João Neves then added a third goal for Portugal in the 30th minute, and later scored his second and Portugal's fourth in the 41st minute. Bruno Fernandes completed the scoring in the second minute of stoppage time, converting a penalty to make it 5-0. In the second half, the Portuguese continued their goal spree, with Bruno Fernandes adding the sixth goal in the 51st minute.
In the 72nd minute, Bruno Fernandes completed his hat-trick and scored the seventh goal of the match.
João Neves then scored his third goal of the match (also a hat-trick) and the eighth goal in the 81st minute, while Francisco Conceição capped off the scoring with the ninth goal in the second minute of stoppage time.
Portugal finished their qualifying campaign at the top of their group with 13 points, three points ahead of second-placed Ireland. Armenia, whose hopes of reaching the World Cup were dashed early, remained at the bottom of the group with three points.
The Portuguese national team played the match without their star player and captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, the all-time leading international goalscorer with 143 goals. Ronaldo was suspended after receiving a red card in the team's 2-0 loss to Ireland last Thursday in the fifth round of qualifiers.
The victory over Armenia secured Portugal's qualification for the World Cup for the ninth time in their history.
The Portuguese team enters the 2026 World Cup with high hopes, with Ronaldo aiming to end his career by lifting the coveted trophy.
