Portugal secured their ticket to the FIFA World Cup 2026 finals in emphatic fashion on Sunday, thrashing Armenia 8-1 at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto. Playing without suspended captain Cristiano Ronaldo, A Seleção needed a win to qualify automatically for the tournament. The victory assured Roberto Martinez’s side of top spot in Group E with 13 points, allowing Ronaldo the opportunity to play at a record sixth World Cup.
The scoring was led by two exceptional performances, with Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves both bagging hat-tricks. Fernandes ended his year-long international goal drought with his treble, while Neves scored three superb goals to open his scoring account for the national team. Renato Veiga opened the scoring in the seventh minute for Portugal, but Armenia delivered a stunning equalizer through Eduard Spertsyan in the 18th minute.
Any hopes of an upset were quickly extinguished by a relentless Portuguese attack. Goncalo Ramos restored Portugal’s lead, followed by two goals from Neves before Fernandes converted a penalty in first-half added time, making the score 5–1 at the break.
The second half continued the rout, with Fernandes striking again soon after the restart before completing his hat-trick from another penalty. Neves added his third with a composed finish, and Francisco Conceicao drilled in a long-range strike in added time to complete the scoring.
Portugal coach Roberto Martinez praised the leadership shown by his senior players in the absence of the captain: "We have many options, and it's important to win when important players aren't with us." The result, which saw Portugal achieve one of their biggest ever wins in World Cup qualifying, allows them to turn their attention toward preparing for the finals. However, due to his red card against Ireland, Ronaldo is expected to miss Portugal's first two games of the World Cup next year.
The automatic qualification secured Portugal's place at their 10th World Cup, and their seventh in a row. The focus now shifts from qualification to tournament preparation, with the team aiming to win the trophy for the first time. Joao Neves summarized the importance of the result: “The most important thing was qualifying for the World Cup. For me, as I always say, the team always comes before the individual.”