he Portuguese national team locks tickets to the 2018 World Cup play-offs in Russia.
It was confirmed after Portugal's 1-0 win over Hungary in Groupama Arena on Sunday (09/03/2017). Single goal Fernando Santos troops came from Andre Silva in the 48th minute.
That way, Portugal can not be shifted from the zone two big Group B armed with 21 points from eight matches. Spread the difference eleven points between Portugal and Hungary in third position when each team leaves two more matches.
The Swiss topped the standings with a three-point lead after a 3-0 win over Latvia at the same time.
Against Hungary, Portugal actually had trouble. In the first half, Cristiano Ronaldo and his friends failed to score even though home team lost Tamas Priskin due to a red card.
Just after the break, Seleccao's bereft team gave shock treatment to the opponent. The second half of the new "aged" three minutes, Andre Silva opened the scoring by utilizing the ball of the stomach of Cristiano Ronaldo on the left side.
Portuguese dominance remains awake despite having one goal ahead. They recorded 65 percent of the game and fired four shots from seven attempts for 90 minutes.
Only, none of Portugal's efforts led to a second goal. 1-0 score for the visitors victory lasted until the referee blew the long whistle.
Hungary 0-1 Portugal (Andre Silva 48 ')
Hungary: 1-P. Gulacsi, 5-A. Fiola, 20-R. Guzmics, 4-T.Kadar, 3-M. Korhut, 14-G. Lovrencsics, 15-M. Patkai, 6-A. Elek, 7-B. Dzsudzsak, 19-T. Priskin, 11-M.Eppel.
Coach: Bernd Storck
Portugal: 1-Rui Patricio, 21-Cedric Soares, 2-Bruno Alves, 3-Pepe, 21-Fabio Coentrao, 18-Gelson Martins, 13-Danilo Pereira, 8-Joao Moutinho, 10-Joao Mario, 9-Andre Silva , 7-Cristiano Ronaldo.