Norway qualified for the 2026 World Cup after a 4-1 win away to Italy in their final group match, condemning the hosts, who have missed out on the last two editions of the tournament, to the playoffs. The group winners will compete at the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.
Norway ended the qualifying campaign with a perfect record of eight wins, finishing six points ahead of four-times World Cup winners Italy, who will compete in the playoffs for the third consecutive occasion.
Needing a nine-goal win because of Norway’s superior goal difference, the Italians came out full of aggression and made the early breakthrough just after the 10-minute mark, as Francesco Pio Esposito swept home a close-range finish.
Italy were dominant until the last minutes of the first half and went close to a second goal several times with Norway having only a half-chance when a shot from Antonio Nusa went over the bar.
However, it was a completely different Norway in the second half and Nusa equalised in the 63rd minute with a left-foot finish from inside the box. With Norway in control in the closing stages, Italy paid the price for leaving Erling Haaland unmarked in the box in the 78th minute as he met a cross and volleyed home with ease.
Haaland then wrapped up the match with a second goal a minute later, taking his tally for the campaign to 16. Jørgen Strand Larsen scored the fourth in stoppage time for the visitors, who showed they would be no pushovers at next year’s tournament.
Portugal qualified for the World Cup on Sunday with a 9-1 hammering of Armenia in Porto that included hat-tricks from both Bruno Fernandes and João Neves. The reigning Nations League champions were forced to wait to book an automatic spot after losing 2-0 against the Republic of Ireland on Thursday in a game where their captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, was sent off.
However, Roberto Martínez’s side needed no help from their all-time top scorer in a one-sided match that assured them top spot in Group F with 13 points, giving Ronaldo the opportunity to play at a record sixth World Cup.
“The most important thing was qualifying for the World Cup. For me, as I always say, the team always comes before the individual,” Neves told RTP after opening his account for Portugal. “I’m very happy to have scored my first goal for the national team, and my second and third as well. I’m happy to be able to share the pitch with great players and a great team.“
Portugal opened the scoring when defender Renato Veiga scored a close-range header in the seventh minute but they were stunned when Eduard Spertsyan converted a cross from Grant-Leon Ranos 11 minutes later. It was only Armenia’s third goal in the qualifying group having failed to score in their previous three games.
However, any hopes of an upset were quickly extinguished as Gonçalo Ramos restored Portugal’s lead while Neves added two goals before half-time, including a superb free-kick into the top corner. Fernandes then converted a penalty in first-half added time to make it 5-1 at the break.
The second half continued in the same pattern as Fernandes struck again soon after the restart after he was set up by Ramos. A flurry of substitutions followed but Portugal’s pressure never relented and when they earned another penalty, Fernandes completed his hat-trick.
Neves then added his third goal of the night with a composed finish after Portugal hit the post while, at the other end, goalkeeper Diogo Costa and the Portuguese defence comfortably kept Armenia at bay.
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Francisco Conceição then added the icing on the cake with a long-range strike in added time as Portugal completed the rout.
“We have a young team and we are not ready to play against teams as powerful as Portugal. After games like this, we will be stronger in the future,” the Armenia coach Yegishe Melikyan said. “We made mistakes that mentally broke our team and we were not expecting the errors that occurred for Portugal’s second and third goals. We aren’t yet mentally prepared for these sorts of games.”
Ireland finished second in the group with 10 points to clinch a playoff berth after they beat Hungary 3-2 with a last-gasp goal in the sixth minute of added time.
Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zubkov powered home a header late in the second half and Oleksii Hutsuliak added a second goal to book their spot in the playoffs as they beat Group D rivals Iceland 2-0.
The two sides were level on points heading into the match but Ukraine needed the win to earn second spot behind group winners France, with Iceland boasting a better goal difference.
Midfielder Zubkov delivered with his first international goal for three years in the 83rd minute and Hutsuliak’s stoppage-time effort made the result safe.
A second-string France side overcome a nervous start to beat Azerbaijan 3-1 away and wrap up their campaign. Coach Didier Deschamps rotated his entire lineup after Les Bleus sealed their spot against Ukraine on Thursday.
France top Europe’s Group D with 16 points from six games after goals by Jean-Philippe Mateta and Maghnes Akliouche plus an own goal from Shakhruddin Magomedaliyev helped them recover from Renat Dadashov’s opener.
