FULL TIME: Portugal 2-0 North Macedonia
Portugal qualify for the 2022 World Cup! Their sixth finals in a row! A deserved win over a North Macedonia side who never looked like repeating their shock victory over Italy. Ah well, they’ll always have Palermo. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
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90 min +2: Portugal are now 60 seconds away from booking their plane tickets to Qatar.
90 min +1: Moutinho makes way for Vitinha.
90 min: Miovski wins a corner down the right ... but Bardhi takes, and fails to beat the first man. There will be three extra minutes.
88 min: The two-goal hero Bruno Fernandes makes way for Matheus Nunes.
87 min: Bernardo Silva is replaced by Joao Felix, while the disappointing Elmas is replaced by Nikolov.
86 min: Another magnificent run by Leao, this time down the inside-left channel. He reaches the byline and tugs back for Ronaldo, who can’t sort his feet out from ten yards.
85 min: Portugal are probing for a cherry-on-top third. Leao embarks on a leggy run down the middle and probably should shoot from 20 yards, but defers to Ronaldo, who can’t get a shot away.
83 min: Portugal take control and slow things down. The clock is their best friend right now.
81 min: The corner is finally taken. Ronaldo tries to meet a curler in from the left. He’s beaten to the ball by Dimitrievski’s spectacular punch.
80 min: Before the corner could be taken, Elmas is given the once over by the physio, having come off second best when Pepe nicked the ball off him. VAR also checks a challenge that set off the Portuguese counter, Danilo poking away from Miovski on the edge of the box. No penalty, the correct decision.
79 min: Elmas threatens to break clear into the Portugal box down the right. Pepe isn’t having it and slams the door shut. Portugal break upfield, Carvalho raking a pass out to Fernandes on the left wing. Fernandes looks for Ronaldo at the near post. Ronaldo prepares to slam home, only for Velkovski to poke out for a corner.
77 min: Portugal respond with a double change. Otavio and Jota make way for Carvalho and Leao.
75 min: Askovski replaces Kostadinov.
74 min: Alioski finally goes into the book for aggressively barging Otavio off the ball as the pair chase down the Portuguese right. He then enjoys a back and forth with Otavio, no hard feelings. Nothing comes of the free kick.
73 min: Bardhi dribbles down the right and drags a shot wide left through a crowded box. As close as North Macedonia have come all night.
72 min: Alioski is in danger of overheating. He sticks an arm in Otavio’s startled coupon. There wasn’t much contact, but then there was no need for it, and he’s lucky the referee can’t be bothered to act, perhaps unimpressed with Otavio’s overly theatrical reaction.
71 min: Speaking of African qualifiers, here’s Kári Tulinius: “The Ghanaians booked their ticket to Qatar as well, winning their tie against Nigeria on away goals. Unless I’m forgetting something, tonight is the last night the away goals rule is in effect in any competition. So unless one of the unfinished matches in the African playoffs is decided that way, the Black Stars will be last team to win on away goals.”
69 min: The free kick, awarded for Alioski’s light shove on Jota, is taken by Fernandes and easily cleared.
68 min: ... though Musliu and Cancelo are both booked for their part in the peace-keeping melee.
67 min: Jota and Alioski tussle down the right. Alioski shoves his opponent away. Jota responds by squaring up, and the pair get in each other’s grilles. For a second, it looks like kicking off, but the pair are split up quickly enough.
SENSATIONAL GOAL! Portugal 2-0 North Macedonia (Fernandes 65)
This is a peach! North Macedonia are on the attack. Pepe stops Bardhi in his tracks with a perfectly timed tackle. Fernandes sprays a pass wide left for Jota, who curls a cross back to him on the penalty spot. Fernandes meets the dropping ball with a sweet volley, slamming past Dimitrievski with power and grace. Portugal so close now.
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63 min: ... as is Ronaldo, who cocks his head back like a Pez dispenser, annoyed at Jota’s reluctance to roll a pass down the left wing that would have sent him free. Jota checks, turns tail, and the chance to spring Ronaldo on goal is gone.
62 min: It’s gone a little flat. Again, this is probably to North Macedonia’s advantage. The home crowd are getting a little frustrated again.
60 min: Trajkovski, the hero of Palermo, won’t be repeating those antics tonight. He’s replaced by Churlinov.
59 min: Nope, he gets away with it this time, Ronaldo meeting the corner with his head but flashing well over the bar.
58 min: Cancelo makes a bit of space down the right and hoicks a deep cross towards nobody in particular. Stefan Ristovski nervously hacks behind for a Portugal corner nonetheless. Has he just made his second costly mistake of the evening?
56 min: Some breaking news from Dakar. Senegal have triumphed over Egypt on penalties again. Unlike the Afcon final, Mo Salah got to take a spot kick ... only to miss it. Exactly like the Afcon final, his Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane slotted the decisive penalty. Senegal are on their way to Qatar!
54 min: Jota bowls Miovski to the ground as the latter makes his way down the right wing. That’s clumsy and gives the visitors a chance to send a free kick into the mixer. Bardhi floats it in. Pepe crashes a header clear. A rare moment of second-half anxiety for the hosts.
52 min: Otavio robs Bardhi, 25 yards from the North Macedonian goal, and feeds Fernandes down the inside-right channel. Fernandes has a dig, the ball flying straight at Dimitrievski. You can imagine the nearby Ronaldo’s reaction, can’t you? Of course you can.
51 min: This is pretty scrappy at the moment. Not sure who that benefits most. North Macedonia, probably, though the clock isn’t their friend and they can’t let things drift for too long.
49 min: Mendes decides to have a go himself, taking on the remaining Ristovski, Stefan, down the left. He beats his man only to shank the cross deep into the stand.
48 min: Mendes tries to release Jota down the left. His pass is good. Jota’s control is not. A slow start to the second half.
46 min: Ah, it would seem Milan Ristovski has been replaced up front by Bojan Miovski. So forget I said that. Pulitzer, please!
Portugal get the second half underway. Neither side has made a half-time change.
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HALF TIME: Portugal 1-0 North Macedonia
There’s just enough time for Cancelo to sail a speculative long-range rake over the bar, and that’s it for the first half. The teams troop off, Portugal leading by that Bruno Fernandes goal / Stefan Ristovski mistake. As things stand, the hosts are 45 minutes away from their sixth consecutive appearance at the World Cup finals.
45 min: The corner’s a dismal waste of time, though. There will be one added minute.
44 min: Mendes reaches the byline near the left-hand corner flag, and fizzes an inviting low ball into the mixer. Nobody in red reacts, allowing Alioski to clear. But Portugal come again, Fernandes winning a corner on the right. Portugal are really pushing for a spirit-sapping second before the break.
42 min: Portugal continue to ping it around. North Macedonia continue to wait anxiously for the half-time whistle.
40 min: Pepe rakes a long pass down the left for Ronaldo, who cuts back from the byline in the hope of finding Jota. Musliu should clear, or perhaps Dimitrievski should claim, but the pair confuse each other, the defender finally larruping a clearance straight at Jota. The ball breaks to the left, giving Jota a chance to whip home from a tight angle, but the gap is small and he’s falling backwards, and into the side netting the ball flies.
38 min: Portugal’s play is much calmer and more measured now. North Macedonia can’t get to the ball right now.
36 min: Portugal are beginning to find their groove now. Cancelo and Otavio combine crisply down the right. A long looped cross falls to Ronaldo, who tries to tee up Jota for a bicycle kick (!) but the visitors manage to clear their lines just in time. All of a sudden, North Macedonia are holding on for half-time and a chance to regroup.
34 min: That goal was wrapped up in bows and pretty paper by North Macedonia. They had been doing so well up until Ristovski’s error, too. But now Portugal have the foothold Italy never had ... and the previously quietened crowd are giving it plenty again.
GOAL! Portugal 1-0 North Macedonia (Fernandes 32)
... hey, if nothing else, at least we said it while we still could. Stefan Ristovski plays a poor infield rake from the Portuguese left. Fernandes sticks out a leg to intercept. The ball breaks to Ronaldo, to his left. Ronaldo draws the only nearby defender and flicks the ball through his legs and back to Fernandes, who strides towards the box and lashes a shot into the bottom left!
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31 min: Portugal are beginning to establish a modicum of control, without seriously threatening to break into North Macedonia’s final third. The visitors will be delighted with the way this is going.
29 min: Mendes is agriculturally brought down by Kostadinov from behind. Kostadinov really threw himself into that, studs showing, both feet in the air, not really in control. He did get some of the ball, but like Fernandes earlier, you’ve seen reds shown for less. Not even a free kick!
28 min: Drink Sagres!
26 min: Fernandes runs the ball out of play down the right. He hoofs the advertising hoarding in frustration. Careful, those things are expensive, though Sagres get plenty of bang for their buck as a result. These little moments stick in your mind and you never know when they’ll pop up again.
24 min: Fernandes sends an outswinger towards the far post. Jota, normally so clinical with his headers, sends an effort from ten yards bouncing down, then back up over the bar, at considerable pace. That was a huge chance, but the net didn’t bulge as everyone expected.
23 min: Otavio plays a cute reverse pass down the inside right to release Jota into a little bit of space. Not enough for a shot, but enough to win a corner. Portugal load the box.
22 min: Portugal slow things down with some sterile possession in midfield. Patience is the key for the favourites.
20 min: Milan Ristovski tears down the right touchline and crosses deep for Alioski, who, just to the left of the Portugal D, opts for the spectacular. He creams a volley across Costa and wide right. That was travelling. The Ronaldo chance apart, North Macedonia have been the better side in these opening exchanges.
19 min: Fernandes slides in on Ademi and catches his ankle. The studs were showing, and the Macedonians want red, but Fernandes also got the ball, and it’s not even a yellow in the referee’s eyes. It would have been a soft dismissal, but you can nevertheless file that under Seen Them Shown.
17 min: Bardhi loops a dismal free kick straight into Costa’s arms. That is appalling. But so is Jota’s egregious shove on Alioski as Portugal attempt to counter, and the chance to worry the over-committed visitors is gone.
16 min: North Macedonia counter through Alioski, who wins a corner down the left with a speculative drive. One corner leads to another, and Bardhi can’t beat the first man. But Portugal only half clear, and Cancelo clumsily brings down Kostadinov out on the right. Kostadinov was going nowhere, but now Portugal have a free kick to defend.
14 min: Ronaldo is this close to opening the scoring. Jota rolls a pass down the inside-left channel to release him. Ronaldo, the offside trap in tatters, strides clear. He enters the box and sends a low drive across Dimitrievski and inches wide of the right-hand post.
13 min: Jota spreads the play wide right for Cancelo, who turns on the jets and reaches the byline, Alioski left in the dust. Cancelo crosses deep for Fernandes, who sends a poor header miles over the bar and deep into the stand. A tight angle, admittedly.
12 min: North Macedonia aren’t giving Portugal a second to settle. A few whistles from the home crowd as the hosts struggle to advance out of their own half.
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10 min: Kostadinov has a bit of time and space down the right, but Mendes does very well to block his cross. Portugal try to counter through Jota, who is cynically checked by Ademi. You’ve seen yellows given for much less, but referee Anthony Taylor (England) keeps his cards in his pocket for now. No Howard Webb (England) he.
8 min: A bit of space in the centre circle for Fernandes to work with. He dallies and is quickly dispossessed by a swarm of white shirts. No quarter given.
6 min: A little bit of space for Mendes down the left. He curls a sensational low cross through the Macedonian six-yard box, but neither Jota nor Ronaldo are around to prod home ... and that ball was begging to be prodded home.
5 min: It’s been a scrappy start, to be honest. Understandably so, with a place at the finals on the line.
4 min: Fernandes and Cancelo combine down the right. Their all-Mancunian sortie comes to nothing, but it qualifies as Portugal’s first attack nonetheless.
2 min: An early statement of intent from the visitors, as Trajkovski, the hero of Palermo, probes down the left. Nothing doing, but it’s an early display of positivity that may settle some nerves.
North Macedonia get this winner-takes-all World Cup qualification play-off underway! There is one heck of an atmosphere at the Dragão. “Hell breaking loose,” just as Ronaldo ordered.
The teams are out! Portugal wear red shirts and green shorts, forcing North Macedonia into second-choice white. The visitors belt out their national anthem, then the hosts take their turn. Ronaldo wanted the music shut down so the fans could “sing it acapella to show our passion, our strength and union around the objective of reaching the World Cup”, but the band plays on. “Our people, the Macedonians, are a proud but humble people who work hard through good times and bad,” writes James Popevich. “They have seen more bad in their recent history than good lately, and while the soccer worldwide viewers see this game as Ronaldo’s last stand, the Macedonians sit on the edge of their seats tonight with joy and passion. This game gives a struggling country hope, and gives them one united movement to cheer on. Perhaps nobody but a Macedonian has heard this football anthem, but I leave with you the Macedonian football spirit in song form:
“This is a country of champions
That we carry in our hearts
In both joy and in tears
We will cheer for you
Let there be thunder in the stands
When we sing for you
God will give us strength
To celebrate together
“Macedonia cheers for you
Million people sing as one voice
Macedonia want a win
Million hearts - one prayer.”
We’ll be off in a minute.
There’s plenty of Premier League representation in the Portugal starting XI. Manchester United supply captain Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes, Manchester City offer Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva, Wolverhampton Wanderers are represented by Joao Moutinho, and Liverpool send Diogo Jota. Arsenal full back Cedric is on the bench alongside Wolves keeper Jose Sa.
Premier League spotters badges are harder to come by in the North Macedonia team. There’s former Leeds United wing-back Ezgjan Alioski, now at Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, and that’s it. Erdal Rakip, who in 2018 sat on the bench for Crystal Palace against Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United but was never sent on, played a couple of games during qualifying but isn’t around for this one. Their highest profile player is Napoli midfielder Eljif Elmas, though Aleksandar Trajkovski, formerly of Palermo, has certainly cemented his name in Italian folklore with that goal at his one-time home ground last week.
The teams
Portugal: Costa, Joao Cancelo, Danilo, Pepe, Nuno Mendes, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Moutinho, Otavio, Ronaldo, Jota, Bernardo Silva.
Subs: Leao, William Carvalho, Rui Patricio, Andre Silva, Jose Sa, Goncalo Guedes, Joao Felix, Fonte, Guerreiro, Cedric, Vitinha, Matheus Luiz.
North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, Stefan Ristovski, Musliu, Velkovski, Alioski, Elmas, Bardhi, Ademi, Trajkovski, Milan Ristovski, Kostadinov.
Subs: Todoroski, Miovski, Naumovski, Churlinov, Spirovski, Serafimov, Dorian Babunski, Nikolov, David Babunski, Siskovski, Ristevski, Askovski.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (England).
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Preamble
This was meant to be Portugal v Italy. It isn’t, though. North Macedonia did a number on the Azzurri in Palermo last week, and so here we are. The Macedonians are ranked 67th in the world, and compared to eighth-placed Portugal, have no superstars in their team. But Blagoja Milevski has only lost one of his eight games in charge of North Macedonia, who also won in Germany during qualifying, and there’s no reason his team can’t shock Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Jota, João Cancelo, João Félix, Pepe et al as well. Should they pull off another jaw-dropper, the Macedonians will make the World Cup finals for the first time in their history. Ronaldo fancies one last shy at the biggest prize of all, though, and isn’t in the mood to let anybody stand in his way. “This game is a matter of life and death,” says the captain of tonight’s hot favourites. Kick-off at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto is at 7.45pm BST. It’s on!
