Portugal is through to the 2022 World Cup. After being forced to qualify via a playoff, the Portuguese national team downed an upstart North Macedonia side 2-0 to officially qualify for the tournament.
Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes scored a goal in each half to secure the victory for his country in front of a sold out Dragao Stadium in Porto. 50,000 fans cheered on the home side as Portugal qualified for their 6th consecutive World Cup.
North Macedonia was coming off one of the biggest upsets of the World Cup qualifying period as they ended Italy’s bid to return to the tournament earlier this week. Despite putting up a valiant effort, the Macedonians were thoroughly outclassed by Portugal, failing to register a shot on target in the contest.
“Goal accomplished,” Cristiano Ronaldo said on Instagram after the win. “We made it to the World Cup in Qatar. We are where we deserve to be.” Ronaldo, the all time top goal scorer in men’s international soccer, will take part in his 5th career World Cup competition.
While rumours that Ronaldo is considering retirement in the near future recently made the rounds on soccer blogs, the 37 year old was quick to dismiss them. Portugal will likely feature several veteran players on their World Cup squad including Ronaldo, Pepe, Jose Fonte, and Joao Moutinho who are all 35 or older.
Despite the numerous awards and individual accolades in his trophy case at home, hoisting the World Cup trophy is something that’s eluded Ronaldo throughout his illustrious career. It’s very likely that 2022 may be his last chance to capture the trophy for Portugal.
Currently ranked 8th in the World, Portugal has never won a World Cup title in any of their 8 appearances since debuting in 1966. In fact their best result was a third place finish in their inaugural year. Fernando Santos and his team will hope to change that narrative this November.
27 of the 32 teams who will compete in Qatar have currently been confirmed. The World Cup draw takes place Friday April 1st at 12pm ET in Doha, Qatar.