Fernandes' double powers Portugal to FIFA World Cup, Poland also qualify for Qatar 2022 at Sweden's expense
Mar 30, 2022
Porto [Portugal], March 30 : Two wonderful Bruno Fernandes strikes helped Portugal clinch a win against North Macedonia and a FIFA World Cup spot on Tuesday while goals from Robert Lewandowski and Piotr Zielinski also took Poland to the Qatar 2022 at Sweden's expense.
Bruno Fernandes put in an impressive display, scoring in each half in Portugal's play-off against North Macedonia to seal his side's place at the FIFA World Cup finals in Qatar.
Portugal looked as if they might be set for a long evening, with both skipper Cristiano Ronaldo and Diogo Jota going close in the first 30 minutes.
Fernandes then intercepted a stray pass just after the half-hour mark before combining well with the Portugal captain and drilling a low strike past Stole Dimitrievski. North Macedonia rarely troubled Diogo Costa in the Portuguese goal in the first period but started brightly after the interval.
However, Fernandes put paid to any thoughts of another big scalp for the visitors after a swift counterattack set Diogo Jota down the left. His pinpoint delivery sat up nicely for the goalscorer to double his tally, hitting a neat first-time finish at speed.
At Slaski Stadium, there were few chances in a cagey first half. Grzegorz Krychowiak was introduced at the interval and made an instant impact as he was fouled in the area by Jesper Karlstrom, and Robert Lewandowski made no mistake from the spot.
Sweden pushed for an equaliser and Wojciech Szczesny denied Forsberg again before Piotr Zielinski took advantage of a mistake at the back to double the home lead. There could have been more goals for the hosts but Robin Olsen saved well from powerful Jan Bednarek and Lewandowski headers.
