Portugal seals World Cup spot with nine-goal rout
Portugal secured qualification for the 2026 World Cup in style as Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves both scored hat-tricks in a 9-1 rout of Armenia in Porto.
Cristiano Ronaldo was suspended after his red card in the 2-0 defeat to Republic of Ireland a week earlier, a result that made the Selecao wait to clinch top spot in Group F.
But Roberto Martinez's team coped well without its talisman, hitting five goals before half-time.
Renato Veiga nodded in the opener after Fernandes saw a curling free-kick parried onto the post by Henri Avagyan, though Armenia briefly got back on level terms when captain Eduard Spertsyan bundled home after good work from Grant-Leon Ranos.
However, Portugal shook off that setback as Goncalo Ramos intercepted Artur Serobyan's loose back pass to make it 2-1, before Neves struck with a low drive and an inch-perfect free-kick off the underside of the crossbar.
Sergey Muradyan's foul on Ruben Dias allowed Fernandes to make it five from the penalty spot in first-half stoppage time, and the Manchester United man curled home a sixth in the 51st minute.
Another penalty conceded by Muradyan – this time for a foul on substitute Carlos Forbs – allowed Fernandes to get his hat-trick, before Neves followed suit with a close-range finish after Nelson Semedo kept Fernandes' cross alive.
Fernandes and Ramos passed up a big chance apiece late on, but Portugal did get a ninth goal in stoppage time as substitute Francisco Conceicao drilled home left-footed.
The result, coupled with Hungary's 3-2 defeat to Republic of Ireland in Budapest, means Portugal tops Group F by three points to qualify for a seventh straight World Cup.


























