The sadness of Italy and the joy of Portugal, what happened last night that football fans will never forget …
Palermo, First Published Mar 25, 2022, 8:11 AM IST
Palermo: Euro champions Italy miss out on qualifying for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. North Macedonia (Italy vs North Macedonia) opened the way for the defending champions with a goal in injury time in the play-off semi-finals. Portugal, meanwhile, beat Turkey by three goals to one to take Qatar one step further.
Italy or Portugal … The football world was sure that only one team would get a ticket to Qatar. But in the 92nd minute, Alexander Trajkovsky’s long ranger broke the chest of the Assyrians in front of his own fans. Despite having 65 per cent of the ball in the life-and-death struggle, unfortunately Italy were on the way. He hit the target five times but his head did not change. With this, the Euro champions returned from the qualifying round without qualifying for the second consecutive World Cup.
Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo and to Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo’s distance to Portugal was reduced to one victory when Ottavio, Diego Jotta and Mathews Nunes scored on the night that CR7 fans were waiting for. Yilmas scored Turkey’s consolation goal in the 86th minute to give Portugal the lead. Parangi’s opponents are Northern Macedonia in Tuesday’s judging battle.
Meanwhile, superstar Gareth Bale’s double helped Wales beat Austria by two goals to one, just one victory away from qualifying for the World Cup.
World Cup Qualifiers: Neymar on goal; Brazil beat Chile by six goals
Last Updated Mar 25, 2022, 8:16 AM IST
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