Portugal secures 2026 World Cup place while England maintains flawless record
Portugal earned their place at the 2026 World Cup with a convincing 9-1 triumph against Armenia on Sunday, as Harry Kane helped the already qualified England preserve their unbeaten streak.
Upcoming, Italy faces the challenge of overcoming Norway to grab a spot at the major event in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, when the leading teams from Group I clash at the San Siro.
Following a draw with Hungary and a surprise loss to the Republic of Ireland in their previous outing, Portugal clinched the top position in Group F on their third attempt, thanks to a dominant performance against the last placed Armenia.
Without the banned Cristiano Ronaldo, key midfield players Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves each netted three goals, leading Portugal to a rampant display in Porto.
Renato Veiga, Goncalo Ramos, and Francisco Conceicao also found the net.
"Qualifying for the World Cup was the key achievement," said Neves, the vital Paris Saint-Germain player, to RTP.
"As I always mention, the team takes priority over any individual. I am delighted to have scored my debut goal for the national side, along with the next two."
Portugal will participate in their seventh straight World Cup, an event that the 2016 European champions have not yet conquered.
"We are heading to the World Cup! Come on, Portugal!" Ronaldo shared on social media.
The forward might sit out the tournaments opening matches if FIFA prolongs his ban past the required one game he missed versus Armenia.
Ireland locked in the play-off spot in the group with Troy Parrotts hat-trick goal in the 96th minute, securing a 3-2 victory over Hungary in third position.
Daniel Lukacs put the home team ahead in Hungary just four minutes in, but Parrott equalised from the penalty spot soon after.
Barnabas Vargass goal in the 37th minute appeared to confirm second place for Hungary, until the 23-year-old Parrott added his fourth and fifth goals for his country this week.
Parrott emerged as the star with his two goals in Thursdays 2-0 win over Portugal, and he scored again to level for Ireland with ten minutes left in Budapest.
The AZ Alkmaar striker then ignited joyous scenes for Ireland by poking in Liam Scaless header right at the end of stoppage time, propelling Heimir Hallgrimssons team towards the March play-offs.
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France confirmed their spot in next years North American tournament with a victory against Ukraine earlier this week, and a largely rotated squad wrapped up their schedule with a 3-1 success in Azerbaijan.
Renat Dadasov stunned by giving the hosts an early lead on four minutes, but Jean-Philippe Mateta, Maghnes Akliouche, and an own goal from Azerbaijani keeper Shakhrudin Magomedaliyev propelled France to 16 points from six matches.
Ukraine defeated Iceland 2-0 with late goals in the final ten minutes from Oleksandr Zubkov and Oleksii Hutsuliak, securing second in Group D.
Under Thomas Tuchel, England achieved a flawless group stage by beating Albania 2-0, ending with a perfect record of 100 percent wins, 22 goals for, and none against.
"This is the strongest squad we have ever assembled," Kane said to ITV. "Looking at the starting lineup and the substitutes, we enter the competition as strong favourites.
"This victory mattered. No one wants to end the year on a defeat and then wait until March for the next game. Now we can relax and savour this."
England appeared headed for a minor dip at the campaigns close, but Kane scored twice late to etch a piece of European football history.
England become the first European team to complete a World Cup qualifying campaign of at least six games with a perfect record and no goals conceded, and they remain unbeaten in World Cup qualifiers over 39 matches since 2009.
With Albania guaranteed second, Serbia edged Latvia 2-1 in a meaningless Group K encounter.