Fernandes sends Ronaldo, Portugal to World Cup over North Macedonia, Poland scale through

Bruno Fernandes scored twice in a difficult European playoff tie on Tuesday, as Portugal defeated tenacious visitors North Macedonia 2-0 to qualify for the World Cup finals in Qatar.

The Portuguese dominated the game from the outset, with 50,000 people cheering them on at a sold-out Drago Stadium in Porto, but they struggled to break down a solid defence, managing only three shots on target despite having nearly 70% possession.

After intercepting a ball from North Macedonia captain Stefan Ristovski, Fernandes worked a wonderful one-two with Cristiano Ronaldo before sending his shot past the goalkeeper after half an hour.

In the 65th minute, the 27-year-old Manchester United midfielder sealed Portugal's victory with a close-range volley from a Diogo Jota cross.

Fernando Santos’ men spent the remaining minutes, running down the clock. Portugal's fans were ecstatic when the final whistle blew, and they stayed in the stands for more than 15 minutes after the game.

Poland qualified for the World Cup finals in Qatar with a 2-0 win over Sweden in an exciting playoff tie. Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski scored second-half goals.

Poland fought hard to contain a young Swedish onslaught, but with Lewandowski's and his colleagues' experience, they were able to capitalize on the visitors' mistakes in the end.

It was a well-deserved victory for Poland who improved in the second half. 

Lewandowski proved yet again why he is a great striker and Poland's captain and Zieliński on his part, finally lived up to the fans' expectations.

Lewandowski's penalty was the first goal Poland had scored at home to Sweden, having lost all three previous meetings without scoring.