Portugal qualify for the World Cup as North Macedonia's fairytale ends

Two goals from Bruno Fernandes meant there would be no repeat of North Macedonia's shock win over Italy - and mean Cristiano Ronaldo will get a final shot at the biggest prize of all

Portugal's Bruno Fernandes celebrates with Cristiano Ronaldo, left, after scoring his side's second goal during the World Cup 2022 playoff soccer match between Portugal and North Macedonia, at the Dragao stadium in Porto, Portugal, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

Portugal 2 North Macedonia 0 

Cristiano Ronaldo’s dream of winning a World Cup before he retires, a trophy that would edge him even closer to the title of greatest player of all time, is still on thanks to two excellent goals from his Manchester United teammate Bruno Fernandes in a play-off final victory which extinguished North Macedonia’s hopes of providing a fairy tale of their own.

The result sends Portugal through to Qatar where Ronaldo will have one more chance to win international football’s biggest prize, perhaps the only major piece of silverware missing from his glittering career.

He didn’t score the winner this time but claimed an assist for Fernandes’ first after 32 minutes before Portugal scored an outstanding breakaway goal through the same player in the second half with 25 minutes to go.

Those goals broke the resolve of a North Macedonia side which had stunned everyone by beating Italy in the semi-final in Palermo, and which competed well enough for most of the game.

They can be proud of how far they went, but when you consider Portugal’s side boasted not only Ronaldo and Fernandes but also other Premier League stars such as Diogo Jota, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva and Joao Moutinho, not to mention veteran defender Pepe who was as good as ever, it was always going to be a tough task to qualify for a World Cup just a year after playing in Euro 2020.

There’s no doubt that Fernandes was the hero, with two excellent finishes, but it is usually Ronaldo who makes the headlines in games as big as this one, not least because his incredible list of football statistics provides journalists with a ready-made plot line if he plays even a tiny part in victory.

He is already the all-time top scorer in international football with 115 goals of course, and won a European Championship for his country, in France in 2016. But Ronaldo’s dream of adding a World Cup before retirement provided the headline writers with opportunity to get a couple written in advance – just in case. And they weren’t wasted.

You can never rule anything out with the United man, but it would be a surprise if he was still playing, at the age of 41, in 2026 when the finals go to Canada, USA and Mexico – so this is possibly the last chance saloon for the one trophy which has evaded him so far and, just as significantly, to prove he deserves to be listed above the likes of Lionel Messi, Maradona and Pele as the greatest of all time.

Messi, who lost with Argentina to Germany in the final of 2014, is chasing the same dream, of course, but when Ronaldo told Portugal fans that he wanted to see ‘hell breaking loose’ in the Dragao stadium, you sensed how much it meant.

He knew it was a banana skin tie, however.

North Macedonia’s rise under first Igor Angelovski and then Blagoja Milevski has been quite remarkable and they arrived in Porto with confidence on a high.

Their rise up the rankings includes an away victory over Germany, an appearance at Euro 2020 and that astonishing win in Palermo in which Aleksandar Trajkovski scored a dramatic 92nd minute winner.

The Macedonians looked organised and technically strong again against Portugal, but in the end found it was one match too far.

Ronaldo, who had already dragged a good chance wide, set up the opener in the 32nd minute after Stefan Ristovski gave the ball away in his own half. The fact that the Portugal captain nutmegged his marker to send the pass to Fernandes made it even sweeter, and the finish from his United teammate was unerring.

The second half was understandably tentative, Portugal unwilling to take too many risks and North Macedonia unable to get past Pepe.

Alioski, with his energy, and Bardhi, pulling the strings in midfield, both impressed but when erstwhile hero Trajkovski was taken off early you sensed that maybe lightning wasn't going to strike twice.

The visitors were eventually undone by a sweeping counterattack which ended with a perfect cross from Jota finding Fernandes to gleefully volley home from a central position.

There were still 25 minutes to go, but Portugal knew the job was done and despite a penalty scare they saw they game out professionally.

The weighting of FIFA coefficients, which take into account long-term results not just current form, mean Portugal will now be seeded in the World Cup draw, despite needing the play-offs to get there.

They know they have the talent to give Ronaldo what he really wants, and in Fernandes the Manchester United striker now has a partner in crime he can rely on for both club and country.

Portugal: Costa, Cancelo, Danilo, Pepe, Mendes, Fernandes (Sa, 89), Moutinho (Vitinha 92), Otavio (Carvalho 76), Ronaldo, Jota (Leao 77), Bernardo Silva (Felix 88) Subs: Patricio, Silva, Guedes, Fonte, Guerreiro, Cedric, Luiz.

North Macedonia: Dimitrievski, S Ristovski, Musliu, Velkovski, Alioski, Elmas (Nikolov 88), Bardhi, Ademi, Trajkovski (Churlinov 59), M Ristovski (Miovski 46), Kostadinov (Askovski 75) Subs: Todoroski, Naumovski, Spirovski, Serafimov, Dorian Babunski, David Babunski, Siskovski, Ristevski.

Referee: Anthony Taylor.