Finally, Portugal have qualified for the Qatar World Cup after winning against North Macedonia in the playoff final. Portugal were afraid of not being able to play in the FIFA World Cup. They couldn’t qualify directly from the Qualifier Round as they became second in their respective group. So, they had to play the playoff round with two teams. Having won against Turkey in the semifinal of the Playoffs, Portugal faced North Macedonia last night, where Bruno Fernandez scored twice to beat North Macedonia.
However, North Macedonia had an outstanding journey during the Qualifiers and Playoff rounds. They were the only team to beat Germany in Group J of the Qualifiers. Moreover, North Macedonia broke the hope of Italy to play in the World Cup as they eliminated the Euro Champion in the Playoff Round. Unfortunately, their journey has ended after losing the match against Portugal.
Match Details
Both Portugal and North Macedonia needed to win the match to book a place in the upcoming FIFA World Cup. So, the managers of both teams played their best possible XI in this super clash. Fernando Santos, the manager of Portugal, set the team formation with 4-3-3. He played Diago Jota and Otavio with Cristiano Ronaldo in the front. On the other hand, Macedonia’s manager played his team in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Nevertheless, an overwhelming number of audiences came to the Estadio do Dragao in support of Portugal. As a result, the home team played very aggressively from the beginning of the match. Portugal could have scored many goals in the first half if they didn’t miss the chances. However, Portugal took the lead in the 32nd minute as Bruno Fernandes scored a brilliant goal with a bullet shot. Cristiano Ronaldo provided the ball to Bruno to find the net.
The first half ended in 1-0 as North Macedonia couldn’t score within this time. Coming back from the break, the visitors tried desperately to find the equalizer. But the home team defended brilliantly in the entire match. Moreover, Portugal doubled their lead in the 65th minute. This time Bruno hit again. He scored a tremendous goal from Diago Jota’s cross. Anyway, both teams couldn’t score more in the remaining minutes. So, Portugal won the match and have qualified for the Qatar World Cup.
