Serbia stun Portugal to claim Qatar 2022 World Cup ticket

Serbia picked up the automatic ticket to the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup with a dramatic 2-1 win over Portugal at the Estadio da Luz in their final game of the group stage.

Both Portugal and Serbia came into the match on 17 points, and the hosts needed only to avoid defeat in the match. Serbia, on the other hand, needed to somehow defeat Portugal in order to achieve direct qualification for next year’s World Cup.

Portugal took the game to their visitors from the first blast of the whistle and found themselves in front after just two minutes. Lille midfielder Renato Sanches powered through the Serbia defence before proceeding to fire an effort past the goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic in the stadium where he learned his trade as a teenager.

Serbia began to ask the questions, and Fiorentina youngster Dusan Vlahovic saw an effort come back off the upright, a warning sign for the Selecao.

The visitors eventually pulled themselves level in the 33rd minute, albeit with the help of a deflection. Captain Dusan Tadic’s shot came off Danilo Pereira, wrong-footing Rui Patricio, who could not readjust his feet in time to make a save.

Both sides continued to threaten sporadically but Serbia looked more composed and continued to threaten without finding any positive end product.

With the final whistle imminent, Fulham striker Alexandr Mitrovic was unmarked at the far post in the 90th minute as Tadic floated in a lovely ball for him to head downwards into the ground and see the bounce deceive Patricio in the Portugal goal, sparking wild celebration among the Serbia players and officials.

Serbia have now picked up their first-ever win over Portugal, and also picked up a ticket to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar next year. Portugal will have to go through a two-game playoff to decide if they will qualify for the mundial.

QUALIFIED TEAMS

Brazil

Germany

Denmark

Serbia

Spain

France

Belgium

Qatar